Published: May 08, 2008 11:28 pm            

HS BASEBALL: Niagara Catholic scores big win over O'Hara

Niagara Catholic might not have been able to match up with Cardinal O’Hara on the football field at Sal Maglie Stadium, but when the field was transformed into its more natural baseball format, the Hawks were fair game.

Mike Volpe, who was the victim of countless vicious hits as the quarterback on the Patriots’ football team, got the win the hill and was 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs at the plate to lead NC to a big 13-3 Monsignor Martin Athletic Association win over O’Hara on Thursday afternoon. The win was the second in a row for the Patriots, who improve to 3-9 overall and 2-6 in the MMAA.

“We’re coming ready to play, practicing hard and staying focused,” Volpe said of his team’s improvement.

First-year NC coach Sam Pericelli agreed.

“It’s a process, but we’re doing a lot better,” he said. “I like the direction we’re heading in right now.”

The Patriots opened the flood gates early as it had a 9-0 lead after the first three innings. Volpe and Mike Tardibuono each notched an RBI and the Hawks contributed two errors as NC got a pair of runs in the first. Then in the second, Catholic scored three more off O’Hara starter Joe Wilkie, highlighted by an RBI double from Volpe.

The game slipped away from O’Hara in the third, though, when it committed two more errors, walked three batters and allowed a pair of RBI singles. On the day, the Hawks made five errors.

“Every day it’s the same old thing — we hurt ourselves,” first-year O’Hara coach John Van DeMark said. “There’s a lot of season left, but right now we’ve got two choices: either play good baseball or play like that.”

The Hawks scored one run each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but it was far from enough. Volpe went five innings, allowing only five hits and striking out four. Peter Heuer tossed the final two innings.

At the plate, Chris Glowacki had three RBIs, Rob Swartz and Josh Puzan were each 2-for-3 with an RBI and Heuer added a two-run single for NC. The Patriots were also sharp in the field as they did not make an error.

“As long as we catch the ball, we’re a pretty tough out,” Pericelli said.

Ryan McDonnel was 2-for-3 for O’Hara (2-12, 1-8), while Tony Mara also had a pair of hits.

Contact reporter Nate Beutel at 282-2311, ext. 2262.

        

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