Jesuit Beats Holy Cross, 2-1, But Blue Jays’ Bats Snoozing

Coach Joey Latino had this to say about Mason Mayfield: “Mason was awfully sharp. He had all his pitches working, especially his fastball and his cutter, which are his two best pitches. He had good command of both of those. When he’s got those two, he’s awfully tough to beat.”

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Chalk up another one-run game for the cardiac kids.

Of Jesuit’s nine District 9-5A games this season, six have been decided by one run. Of those six, the Jays lost the first four and won the last two, which happened to be against Brother Martin (5-4 in 10 innings) on Saturday, April 9, and Holy Cross on Tuesday, April 12.

The Jays and Tigers played in a light mist at John Ryan Stadium, and despite Holy Cross outhitting Jesuit, 5-2, the Blue & White held on for a 2-1 win.

In a close play at first base, Jake Licciardi shows the umpire his “snow cone.” The Tiger runner was out.

A lot of the credit goes to Jesuit’s senior ace, Mason Mayfield, who pitched an entire seven innings, holding the Tigers to one run on those five hits. The right-hander struck out nine Tigers and walked one. The win improved Mayfield’s record to 4-2.

Mayfield said one of the problems pitching when it is misty is making sure the ball is dry.

“If one ball slips and you make a mistake, it could cost you the game,” he said, adding, “I just do what our coaches preach — pound the zone throwing strikes and let our defense play. We didn’t make an error tonight. It was a clean game defensively despite the rain. I’m proud of the guys.”

Holy Cross scored their lone run in the top of the first. Jesuit came back in the bottom of the second with two runs on no hits. That’s right, zero hits. The Tigers’ pitcher loaded the bases with walks, struck out the next Blue Jay, and threw shortstop Nick Ray out at first on an infield grounder, which plated the first run. Designated hitter Marc Theberge was then hit by a pitch to load the bases again, setting up Jesuit’s second run, via the fourth walk of the inning. The next batter struck out with the bases loaded.

A total of five Jesuit batters struck out in the game and seven were left on base. Two consecutive hits in the bottom of the fifth were the Jays only productive at-bats. Theberge hit a lead-off double followed by second baseman Brandon Briuglio’s single on a full count, which advanced Theberge to third. The next Blue Jay struck out. Hunt Conroy, pinch-running for Briuglio, easily stole second base, but the Jays could not plate either runner. An infield ground out held Theberge and Conroy. Another infield grounder was hit to the Tigers’ shortstop, who looked up to find Conroy running right at him. Conroy tried to return to second base, but was run down and tagged for the third out.

Coach Joey Latino said beating Holy Cross on a night of miserable weather was a huge win.

Some of the faithful at John Ryan Stadium stand during the “5th Inning S-t-r-e-t-c-h.”

“That’s a quality team we just beat and we did it because of Mason’s right arm,” Coach Latino said. “Mason was awfully sharp. He had all his pitches working, especially his fastball and his cutter, which are his two best pitches. He had good command of both of those. When he’s got those two, he’s awfully tough to beat.”

But Coach isn’t happy about mustering a measly two hits.

“Offensively — I hate to use too strong a word — we were anemic,” he matter-of-factly said. “We got to have better at bats. We wasted a leadoff double in the fifth. We just have to be better offensively. And we’re going to get there. We just have to keep working.”

The Jays’ overall record is 19-8; for power rating purposes, Jesuit’s overall record is 18-7. The Jays’ district record is 5-4. Four games remain in the regular schedule, including three district contests:
Jesuit vs. St. Augustine — Friday, April 15 at John Ryan Stadium — First pitch is 5 p.m.
Jesuit vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Hammond) — Saturday, April 16 at John Ryan Stadium — First pitch is noon.
Jesuit vs. John Curtis — Tuesday, April 19 at John Ryan Stadium — First pitch is 7 p.m.
Jesuit vs. Shaw — Thursday, April 21 at Shaw — First pitch is 6:30 p.m.

There is a possible fifth game if Jesuit travels to Northshore on Saturday, April 23. Northshore had been scheduled as Jesuit’s opening game this season, but inclement weather forced cancellation. A decision

Nick Ray made a good effort to tag this Tiger who safely stole second base.

on the Jays making the trip across the lake won’t be made until next week.

“Every game has been tight and there have been an awful lot of one-run games,” Coach Latino admitted. “The league wins are always big. Obviously we don’t feel like we’re out of anything in terms of the district race until mathematically we’re eliminated, so that’s big. More importantly, you’re worried about power points, you’re worried about your rating, so every win especially at this time of year is big and this one against Holy Cross certainly falls in that category.”

Moments before Dr. Joe Licciardi ’53, Jesuit’s longtime team physician, gently placed an ice pack on the ace’s right shoulder, Mayfield had this observation: “We still have a lot of baseball left.”

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The New Orleans Advocate: Jesuit squeezes out 2-1 win over Holy Cross