BOSTON— In a matchup between the two top-ranked teams in Division 1 baseball, No. 1 BC High outlasted No. 2 Xaverian 3-1.
It was a chance at redemption for BC High as it lost 1-0 to Xaverian in April. It was also an opportunity for the Eagles to redeem themselves at the plate after an 18-strikeout performance on Saturday in a loss to St. John’s (Shrewsbury).
The Eagles strung six hits together and only struck out three times in this game, with head coach Steve Healy praising his team’s grittiness at the plate.
“They played a pretty complete game today,” Healy said. “Strikeouts have been plaguing us lately, but today we put the ball in play, and we ran the bases pretty well. It was a good night for us.”
However, the star of the day for BC High was starting pitcher Sam Keene. He recorded eight strikeouts through the first four innings and said his pitch arsenal was working well for him.
“Everything felt really good,” Keene said. “I could really spot my pitches, even when down in counts. Getting the ball outside, inside, up and low is the name of the game.”
The offense for the Eagles didn’t come until the fourth inning. It started when Andrew Flaherty ripped a triple down the right field line, setting the tone for those behind him.
“I went hard out of the box and saw coach waving me on,” Flaherty said. “I said ‘alright, let’s go!’”
After a walk to Wyatt Miller, Flaherty would then score on a wild pitch to give the game its first run. Then, Jack Darcy would smack a single up the middle to score Miller and would cross the plate himself after a sacrifice fly from Gustavo Bosques.
The Hawks would get one back in the top of the fifth from a Jayce Devine RBI single, but Keene would finish the inning strong, and Brady Lane would finish the job with two solid relief innings to seal the victory.
“It starts on the mound,” Healy said. “Sam was great, Brady was terrific and we just went from there. It’s a luxury having them.”
After avenging the loss from earlier in the season, Flaherty said the team plans to replicate the performance down the road.
“It’s obviously a big win,” Flaherty said. “We knew going in that this was going to be a hard game. In the tournament, every game is going to be a hard one and we have to give it everything like we did today.”
