WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kevin Elwell threw a complete game, two-hit, shutout and Kyle Fackler's RBI single in the third was Elizabethtown's only hit as the Blue Jays locked up a series victory against Catholic, 1-0, in game one Sunday afternoon at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. The Cards won game two, 3-2, to avoid the sweep.
GAME ONE
E-town Lineup
1. Fackler 2b, 2. Holbert cf, 3. Weary dh, 4. Gatti 1b, 5. Jones rf, 6. Lorenz 3b, 7. Manning lf, 8. Ragozzino c, 9. Shirk ss, SP Elwell
Catholic Lineup
1. Schmidt 3b, 2. Padula cf, 3. Poggioli lf, 4. Crist dh, 5. Palladino rf, 6. Scamardella 1b, 7. Burmester c, 8. Hinchcliff ss, 9. Stewart 2b, SP Gately
Sophomore Kevin Elwell bounced back from an 0-2 trip to Florida with a complete game, two-hit, shutout of the Cardinals, ensuring the Blue Jays a series victory over the Cardinals.
Catholic came into the weekend without a loss on its docket, but E-town had an 11-run outbreak Saturday night and made it 2-for-2 with its game one victory, despite being one-hit by opposing starter David Gately.
The Cardinals put runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the second, presenting the game's first challenge, but Elwell got shortstop Dan Hinchcliff to fly out to right to end the threat.
In Elizabethtown's next at-bats, Dylan Manning led off with a walk and moved to second on Frank Ragozzino's sacrifice bunt. With two gone, Fackler singled to score Manning with the game's only run.
Catholic never threatened against Elwell again, getting just three runners on base in the final five innings. The shutout was the second of Elwell's career. He tossed a four-hitter in blanking Lebanon Valley last April 26 in the final start of his freshman season.
Elwell struck out two and walked three. Likewise, E-town found it nearly impossible to solve Gately. The Catholic starter also pitched to contact with just two walks and three strikeouts. Following the third inning, the Blue Jays went down in order in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. Senior Luke Gatti (0-for-3) was held without a hit for the first time this season, snapping a 13-game hitting streak that dated back to the last game of 2014 for the Hempfield grad.
GAME TWO
E-town Lineup
1. Fackler 2b, 2. Holbert cf, 3. Manning lf, 4. Gatti 1b, 5. Smith dh, 6. Jones rf, 7. Shirk 3b, 8. Canuso c, 9. Kibler ss, SP Tomasko
Catholic Lineup
1. Padula cf, 2. Schmidt 3b, 3. Crist dh, 4. Poggioli dh, 5. Scamardella 1b, 6. Gately rf, 7. Stewart 2b, 8. McFarland c, 9. Hinchcliff ss, SP Hassan
Frank Canuso was 3-for-3 with a run scored and a second-inning RBI single that gave the Blue Jays (10-4, 2-1 Landmark) a 1-0 lead, but CUA rallied from 2-0 down to score three runs in the fifth in avoiding a weekend sweep.
David Gately stole third and scored on a throwing error to bring the Cardinals (9-2-1, 4-2 Landmark) within a run.
Later in the inning, Wyatt Schmidt knocked in the tying and go-ahead runs.
Karan Sinha pitched a 1-2-3 top of the fifth to stand as the pitcher of record when the Cards went in front. Joseph Salzano held on to the lead with three strikeouts over the final two innings for his fourth save of the season.
Zack Tomasko gave up three runs on four hits over four innings in suffering his first defeat of 2015. Josh Sollenberger pitched two scoreless frames.
Game two once again favored the pitchers. After the teams combined for just three hits in game one, both sides had five hits in the finale.
Luke Gatti was 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored for Elizabethtown. Designated Colby Smith was 1-for-3, along with Canuso's three-hit afternoon.
Catholic's five hits came from five different players.
NEXT UP
Elizabethtown will make up a non-conference game with Stevenson Wednesday at 3:30. The Jays and Mustangs were supposed to open the season back on Feb. 22, before winter weather forced the game to be moved.
