No. 4 St. Mary’s tops No. 5 Bishop Timon 5-2

Special to WNYAthletics.com Story and Photos by Nick Wojton (@Nick_Wojton)

LANCASTER – Pitchers Ben Mazurouski of St. Mary’s and Sean Hayes of Bishop Timon dueled on the mound Thursday at St. Mary’s High School in the Monsignor Martin quarterfinal, and after falling twice to the Tigers in the regular season, the Lancers got their revenge with a 5-2 win thanks to a three-run fifth inning.

Mazurouski went the complete game, allowing only four hits and striking out nine batters. Offensively for the Lancers (10-5), Matt Ciezki led the way, going 2-for2 with a double, triple, a run scored and three RBIs. Also making contributions were Pat Basil (1-for-3, double, RBI) and Christian Szablewski (double, 2 runs scored).

Hayes tossed all six innings for Timon (7-8) and came up just short in a strong outing of his own which included seven hits allowed and five strikeouts. Matt Shalloe also added an RBI double for the Tigers.

“In the last three weeks we’ve faced some really tough pitchers and we’ve knocked them out of the game. We’re swinging the bat real well right now. We got timely hits and really resilient at-bats, one through nine, in our lineup,” St. Mary’s head coach Mike Wagner said.

Despite the win, Timon started the game hot by taking the early lead in the top of the first inning as Hayes reached base on an error, Jeremy Glinski walked and Chris Fisher walked to load the bases. Manny McClain then drew a walk to score Hayes, but that was the only run Timon mustered.

Wagner credited his pitcher for getting the Lancers out of the jam and playing a key part in the win.

“(Mazurouski) settled down and got ahead in the count and we made the plays,” Wagner said.

The Lancers offense settled in after the first inning as well. In the second frame, St. Mary’s tied the game as Szablewski doubled and scored on Ciezki’s double to right field. In the following inning, the Lancers took the 2-1 lead as Cole Laskowski walked and scored on Basil’s double.

In the fourth inning the Lancer offense was close to exploding with the bases loaded, but Timon’s defense kept the Tigers in the game. The get out of the jam, Matt O’Brien, Sean Jordan and Chris Fisher turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Timon head coach Jeff Ralabate said the play kept the Tigers in the game.

“That’s been our M.O. all year, play solid defense and get the timely hits. I feel like for the most part we did that today and it gave us a chance,” Ralabate said.

However, Timon couldn’t stall the Lancers in the fifth inning as St. Mary’s extended their lead to 5-1 as Ciezki blasted a triple, scoring Szablewski and Chris Nieno, who both walked, and then Ciezki scored on a Trent Rumley ground ball.

Ciezki wasn’t surprised his team’s offense came to life in fifth.

“That’s been the story of the St. Mary’s Lancers this year. Getting down a little bit and battling back,” Ciezki said.

In regard to his triple, there wasn’t anything special to it. Ciezki waited for his pitch.

“He gave me a fastball and I was waiting for it again,” Ciezki said. “Took him to right field and that’s where I get most of my power and I connected at the right time and place.”

END 5: The St. Mary’s offense has come alive. They add 3 to their lead to bring it to 5-1. Matt Ciezki brings in 2 of them, this time in prettier fashion. A triple to RF scores Szablewski and Nieno. Here’s the blast @WNYAthletics pic.twitter.com/ULLyocJ3pc — Nick Wojton (@Nick_Wojton) May 25, 2018

After the added insurance runs for St. Mary’s, Timon could only muster one more run in the sixth inning as Pat Whelan reached first on a fielder’s choice ground ball and Shalloe scored him with his double to center field. Beside Shalloe, Mazurouski took the Lancers the rest of the way.

“(Mazurouski) really brought us our momentum and gave us all that energy today,” Ciezki said.

FINAL: St. Mary’s wins it 5-2, Ben Mazurouski goes the distance, throwing all seven innings and finishes it off right here with a strike out @WNYAthletics pic.twitter.com/tST0Bt8n84

— Nick Wojton (@Nick_Wojton) May 25, 2018

With the win, St. Mary’s advances to the next round, where it will face St. Joe’s (12-2) in a best-of-three series which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.