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Game two of the 36th Annual Jack Conley Lead-Off Baseball Tournament featured No. 17 St. Michaels and St. Mary's - Ryken. It was an early pitchers duel between Saints lefty Ben Morris and Knights freshman Blake Pesante as both cruised through the opening two frames.

In the third, St. Michaels loaded the bases on an error, a walk, and an infield single by Jock Luthy. Grant Labelle followed with a sac-fly to left field plating Nick Newnam (Harford CC) for the games first run and the Saints would later score another on a wild pitch. 

Through it all, Pesante showed great poise on the mound and worked out of the jam limiting the Saints to just the two runs. Pesante would only go four in this one allowing those two runs on three hits while striking out three before Jake Erickson relieved him in the fifth. 

Labelle singled in the fifth for an RBI and Newnam doubled to the left-center field gap for an RBI in the sixth to give St. Michaels some insurance runs.

Morris wouldn't need them however, as he was outstanding out the mound for the Saints going five and one-third allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out five and throwing 67% of his pitches for strikes.

With Morris' pitch count at 70, St. Michaels went to the bullpen for Jack Vener (McDaniel) who came on in relief for the final two outs. The game went six innings because of the two-hour time limit set for games in the tournament with St. Michaels punching their ticket to the Championship game against host No. 24 Mount St. Joseph with the 4-0 win over St. Mary's - Ryken. 

 

Final Tournament Results

Game 1: No. 24 Mount St. Joseph 7, St. Maria Goretti 4
Game 2: No. 17 St. Michaels 4, St. Mary's-Ryken 0
3rd Place Game: St. Maria Goretti 7, St. Mary's-Ryken 5
Championship Game: No. 24 Mount St. Joseph 18, No. 17 St. Michaels 8

2019 Jack Conley Tournament Champions: Mount St. Joseph Gaels
2019 Willie Staso MVP: Connor Rudel