BELMONT – In a battle of staff aces, Lexington’s Jack Pawloski gained the upper hand for the Minutemen in a Middlesex League contest against Belmont and their star pitcher, Nate Espelin.
On the bump, Pawloski went 5-1/3 innings, striking out five while at the dish, senior second baseman Jesse Snyder knocked in three runs to lead Lexington to a hard-fought 4-2 road win over the Marauders yesterday afternoon.
“We split with (Belmont and Espelin) last year, so the kids were excited about this matchup,” said Lexington coach Zack Friedman. “Nate is a terrific pitcher, but I think that Jack is in the same ballpark, if not just as good.”
Lexington (5-0) came right out and jumped on Espelin as leadoff hitter Sal Frelick roped a single to center to get things going. Frelick would later steal second, and after a walk to Pawloski, the Minutemen had first and second with one out. But Espelin escaped the threat by getting Nick Plansky to line into a 5-4 double play to end the top of the first.
Following a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame from Palowski, Lexington broke through in the top of the second. With one out, Will Thomas lofted a high fly ball to center that was misplayed for a double, and following an Espelin strikeout; Snyder drove in Thomas with a double of his own. The Minutemen made it 2-0 moments later when No. 9 hitter Tony Bianchi singled home, Snyder.
Leading 2-0, Palowski provided Lexington exactly what it needed in the bottom of the second, setting down Belmont in order, and after Espelin struck out the side in the third, Pawloski retired the Marauders 1-2-3 in the home half of the inning.
Belmont (3-2) threatened in the bottom of the fifth after an infield single from David Pergamo and a walk put runners on first and second with one out. But Pawloski got Justin Rocha to fly out to left before ending the inning by getting Connor Dacey to ground out.
Snyder put Lexington up 4-0 in the sixth with a two-run, two-out single, which scored Pawloski and Nick Stevens. Belmont, however, cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Dennis Crowley and Francisco Rodriguez after walks to Espelin and Ryan Noone had knocked Pawloski from the game.
“Jesse is a senior and he didn’t play much last year, but he has gotten the opportunity this season, and he is taking full advantage,” added Friedman.
Lexington escaped further damage in the sixth thanks to solid relief pitching from Madison Dina, who got consecutive groundouts to snuff out the threat. And in the bottom of the seventh, Dina allowed a single and walk, but got Noone to ground out to end the game.
