Troy Shepherd made sure the Hawks did not fall to their conference rivals for a second time this year.
With the game tied at one in the bottom of the eight inning, and Bryan Hart on third, Shepherd laced an RBI single up the middle to give No. 2 Xaverian a walk-off 2-1 win over Catholic Conference rival No. 1 BC High (8-3, 5-1) on Tuesday afternoon at Xaverian Brothers High School.
Shepherd said he was simply looking for a fastball from BC High starter Mike Vasil.
“(Vasil) was using his fastball all day to get ahead in the count,” said Shepherd. I saw the fastball first pitch and knew I had to put it in play to get the job done for us.”
The game between two of the top teams in Massachusetts featured a battle of each teams’ ace, as Xaverian’s Blake Decarr and the Eagles’ Mike Vasil matched each other every step of the way.
DeCarr tossed 8 innings, giving up just one run, and four hits while striking out nine.
All afternoon long DeCarr used his mid 80s fastball to get ahead in the count, locating it on the outside corner at the knees. DeCarr then put hitters away with his change up, throwing it in the dirt and getting the Eagles’ hitters to wave at it.
“(DeCarr) was really on last week against St. John’s Prep,” said Xaverian Coach Gerry Lambert. “Was not as sharp today, probably batting his emotion, but when he had to make the big pitch he made his pitch.”
Meanwhile Vasil was equally as sharp, going 7.1 innings surrendering just one earned run, allowing four hits, to go along with five strikeouts.
Xaverian (8-3, 4-1) got on the board in the opening inning, as a dropped line drive and a fielders choice put Shepherd in scoring position. DeCarr then helped himself with a two out RBI single into right centerfield to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Eagles tied the score at one, as a two out, two strike single into centerfield by Brendan McDonald brought home Pat Rafferty.
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