By Anthony Bosco
Kenny Gleason smacked a two-out RBI single to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning, capping a come-from-behind 4-3 win for the Christ the King Royals over the Holy Cross Knights Monday afternoon at Juniper Valley Park.
Christ the King took the early lead in the game, scoring once in both the first and second innings, but an error on a fly ball in the third allowed the Knights to score three unearned runs and take the lead.
But some late-inning heroics by Gleason and his teammates changed the outcome.
“That was the biggest hit of the year so far for Ken,” said Royals coach Walter Tuthill. “We hung right in there.”
The two-run rally started when Abel Sanchez was hit by Holy Cross starter Michael Morris to lead off the inning. Rafael Castillo laid down a sacrifice bunt, but catcher John Munoz’s throw to second was high, putting runners on first and second.
Cross head coach Kurt Schaffner pulled Morris for lefty Brett Swiatocha, who walked the left-handed Leon Kruset to load the bases. Swiatocha was pulled for hard-throwing senior Alex Beras, who promptly got Norris Gordon to fly out weakly to center.
But Beras gave up a long fly ball to right by Omni Sanchez, which just managed to score brother Abel Sanchez from third and tie the game. Gleason then stepped in with runners on first and second and laced a liner to left-center, bringing home Castillo with the winning run.
“I told them coming into this week that this is a really big week for us,” Tuthill said of his team, which improved to 7-2 in league play with the win. “Sometimes you have a tendency to let down when you play teams with not quite as good a record. It’s very hard sometimes for teams to really rise to that occasion. In the back of their mind they think they’re better than the other team. Every team in this league is compatible.”
Cross, which has now dropped three straight, fell to 3-6 in the league with the loss.
The Knights put themselves in a hole early, but not deep enough that they could not climb out. Morris was hit hard in the first, giving up a lead-off double to Castillo and a single to Leon Kruset, the Royals’ starter. A walk to Gordon loaded the bases with no out, but Sanchez bounced into a double play, scoring one. Gleason lined out to short to end the inning with no further damage.
Kruset struck out the side in the top of the second and got another run of support in the bottom of the inning when Danny Echevarria beat out an infield hit, stole second and went to third on a passed ball. Echevarria scored on Robert Torres’ two-out hit to right-center.
Cross bounced right back in the top of the third when, with two outs, Dean Crawford walked, Rudy Mejia beat out an infield hit and James Kosky walked. Chris Cialone then hit a shallow fly ball to center that seemed destined to end the threat before Joseph Roman misplayed the ball, allowing two runs to come across and tie the game.
Roman was forced to leave the game after the play with an injured finger.
Cross took the lead moments later when Cialone was caught off first base, but stayed alive long enough to allow Kosky to score the go-ahead run.
The Knights nearly added to their lead in the fifth, getting two runners on before Tuthill brought in Echevarria, who retired the only two batters he faced in the inning.
Echevarria got the win, pitching 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief.
Molloy 5, St. Edmund 6. The Stanners squeezed out a victory Monday when Mike Baxter’s sacrifice scored John Maser in the top of the sixth. Matt Bunyan got the win in relief, pitching 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball. Molloy improved to 9-0 with the win.
Xaverian 7, St. Francis Prep 2. The Clippers used pitching to top the Terriers, as Danny Christianson fanned six through four and Tom Curry struck out four in three innings of relief. Xaverian improved to 7-3, while Prep fell to 7-4.
Molloy 14, McClancy 2. Mike Vigorito and Mike Baxter combined for six hits and seven RBIs as the Stanners cruised to a league win over the Crusaders Friday to remain unbeaten.
Xaverian 8, Holy Cross 2. Danny Martinez went deep twice and John DeSendis added a two-run shot for the Clippers, who topped the Knights last week.
St. Francis Prep 11, St. Edmund 2. Sylvester Gutierrez belted a grad slam, was 2-for-4 and drove in five to provide the offense for starter Danny Pudjak, who fanned five through six in the Terriers’ win Friday.
Christ the King 4, Xaverian 3. The Royals’ got a complete-game from Kenny Gleason, who also drove in the winning run in the top of the seventh. The start was the first for Gleason, who was coming off arm surgery last October. The win kept CK alone in second place.
St. Francis Prep 11, Holy Cross 1. The Terriers beat up on their cross-town rivals last Thursday, being pitcher Brian Morgan’s three-hitter. Jason Leberfeld provided the offensive punch, driving in six on two hits.
Bishop Ford 11, St. John’s Prep 8. The Red Storm lost a heartbreaker last Wednesday, as Peter Esposito and Rob Tafflock combined for five hits and six RBIs for Ford.
Molloy 3, Xaverian 0. Facing the Clippers for the second time in two days, the Stanners got a complete-game four-hitter from starter Phil Kuhner. Anthony DiTroia drove in two of the three Molloy runs.
Christ the King 9, St. Edmund 2. Omni Sanchez led the Royals with three hits, while Joe Roman, who got the win, added two to help his own cause. Roman fanned seven in the victory.
Holy Cross 10, McClancy 2. John Munoz belted a grand slam to lead the Knights to their third league victory. Patrick Hogarty allowed just six hits to earn the win.
Cathedral Prep 5, Bishop Ford 4. The Crusaders were led by the pitching of Vinny Lapuma, who struck out eight while going the distance, and the offense of Danny Fisher, who smacked two hits and scored the game-winner.
Molloy 12, Xaverian 10. In the much-anticipated battle of the unbeatens, Molloy escaped with the win thanks to three round-trippers by Fred Estes and a solid outing by Matt Bunyan in relief.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
