For Mercy, a loss not to feel too badly about
WHALERS 8, MONARCHS 1
Judging by the postgame remarks coming from Bishop McGann-Mercy dugout, one might have thought that the Monarchs had won their season-opening baseball game. They didn’t. And while they didn’t gain a win, the Monarchs apparently gained a healthy dose of confidence.
For one thing, the Monarchs’ opponent on Friday was Pierson/Bridgehampton, the defending Southeast Region Class C champion. Not too shabby.
The 8-1 final score was one-sided, but a bit misleading at the same time. Six of Pierson/Bridgehampton’s runs came in a second-inning burst. Aside from that, the Monarchs and their new coach, Skip Gehring, saw enough things to give them encouragement. Generally speaking, the Monarchs liked the way they competed against quality competition.
Aside from that pivotal second inning, it was a fairly even game on a windy, chilly day in Riverhead.
That big rally started innocuously enough when Forrest Loesch was hit by a 2-2 pitch. After Loesch was hit, then the Monarchs were hit.
Nick Kruel, Jack Fitzpatrick, Charles Canavan and Kyle Sturmann strung together consecutive hits for the first two runs. James Sherry brought in the third run on a fielder’s choice, the fourth scored on a John Chisholm sacrifice fly, and Aaron Schiavoni cracked a two-run double.
Five of the Whalers’ 11 hits came during the rally, which saw them make 10 plate appearances.
Tim Markowski did his part for the Whalers (1-1), tossing a five-hitter, with two walks and one strikeout. The right-hander hit two batters, including one that brought in McGann-Mercy’s only run.
After their first two batters in the second were retired, the Monarchs loaded the bases. Pat Marelli and Nick Kneski both draw walks around a double that Colin Ratsey leaned into. Kurt Bahnke then earned McGann-Mercy’s first run batted in of the season the hard way when he was struck by a pitch.
Marelli pitched the first four innings and did not give up a hit outside of the second inning. Mike Frosina and Mike Chalicki handled McGann-Mercy’s pitching after that.
Pierson/Bridgehampton tacked on a run in each of the fourth and sixth innings. Sherry reached base on a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then darted home on an errant throw. The game’s final run was the result of streaky hitting again. Chisholm, Schiavoni and Loesch all delivered successive hits, making it 8-1.
