Gibbons Earns Signature Win, Douglas’ Skid Reaches Three

At this point in the season, it appears as though the Cardinal Gibbons and Douglas baseball teams are headed in two different directions. The Chiefs jumped on the Eagles for eight early runs, then held on late for an 8-6 non-district win.

Chiefs Head Coach Frank Pisani knows plenty about Douglas baseball. The first-year Cardinal Gibbons coach was an assistant with the Eagles for many seasons before taking the Gibbons job last summer.

On Monday afternoon, Pisani threw his ace, Thomas Woodrey at his former team. Woodrey was unhittable for four innings, with strikeouts accounting for eight of the first twelve outs. The junior ran into trouble in the fifth, giving up six runs, mostly coming from the bats of Douglas reserves.

Cardinal Gibbons scored in the first off Eagles start Jonathan Lipinski. Jack Crittenberger led off the game by drawing one of four walks he would receive during the game. Ryan Whaley was then hit by a pitch, and Lipinski walked Woodrey to load the bases. The third walk of the inning, to Anthony Cerquozzi, plated the Chiefs first run. Lipinski worked out of the jam by inducing an inning ending double play off the bat of Jimmy Noonan.

The second inning was not much better for Lipinski. Tyler Norris drew a one-out walk, Jordan Selbach reached on an error, and Crittenberger walked, ending the control-shortened day of Lipinski. Reliever Matt Davis did not fare much better, with Whaley and Woodrey greeting Davis with consecutive singles, upping the Gibbons lead to 4-0. Gibbons tacked on two more in the frame, and the second ended with a 6-0 Chiefs lead.

In the third, Tyler Norris launched a Davis pitch for a two-run homer, and the Eagles, undefeated just a week and a half ago, suddenly found themselves in danger of being defeated by mercy rule.

In the fifth, however, Douglas battled back. The Eagles finally got to Woodrey, scoring six runs on five hits. Ironically, it was the Douglas bench that did most of the damage. Douglas coach Elliot Bonner, filling in for suspended Head Coach Dean Florio, had seen enough of the lackluster effort from his club through four innings, and decided it was time to send a message.

In the fifth, Bonner pinch hit for starters Courtland McEachrane, Evan Leyva, and Luis Silvero. Two of the moves paid off, with Brandon Dreichler hitting a double in McEachrane’s spot in the order, and Tommy Lamers singling in place of Silvero. By the end of the inning, Douglas had cut the lead to 8-6.

From there, it was reliever and senior captain Brian Stark that had the task of holding down the Eagles offense. Stark used a sharp slider to work around a walk in the sixth, and keeping the lead at 8-6. In the seventh, Douglas put the tying runs on base, but Stark was able to strike out pinch-hitter Alec Dowell to end the threat and the game.

“This was a big game for us,” said Stark. “Coming in as a relief pitcher, you never really know when you are coming in, so I just have to come in with my best stuff, and today I did that.” When asked about the slider, which had been fooling Douglas hitters all afternoon, Stark replied. “My slider was unbelievable today.”

As for Pisani, he knew this game was about much more than just gaining some personal satisfaction from beating the team he coached as recently as last season.

“The reason why I scheduled this game this late was to play a quality opponent going into the postseason, and that is exactly what Douglas is,” said Pisani. “They’re a top notch opponent with good pitching and good hitting. We were just lucky to get the ‘W’ today.”

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