Big Inning Boosts McArthur Past Westminster

McArthur took advantage of a big inning to defeat Westminster Academy 5-2 on Friday night in the best-played game this week of Group 6 in the HSBN/Perfect Recruits Fall Classic.

McArthur will advance to the second round of the tournament with a win tonight against Deerfield Beach.

Down 2-0, the host Mustangs scored all of their runs in the fourth inning. Jesus Patricio walked to lead off the inning, moved to third on Johan Suero’s double and came home when Brandon Santiago walked. Dylan Segula drew a walk, allowing Suero to score to tie it at 2. With two outs, Kevin Rosario belted a double to allow Cesar Feliciano and Santiago to score, and Segula came home when the throw to home went wide.

McArthur’s Dario Polano said the five-run inning was “really exciting because we knew we were back in the game. It was intense for awhile.”

“We had the game where we wanted it,” said Westminster coach Nick James, who added that Rosario’s go-ahead double “just happened to be at the wrong time.”

Take away that rough fourth inning and Westminster played a solid game, one that James said “we’ll take every time” against a big school such as McArthur.

“Anytime we can compete for six innings with a 7A team and a quality program, that’s all we can ask for,” James said.

McArthur coach Brian Clark likewise was happy with his team’s effort and said “if we play like that, we can play with anyone.”

Westminster opened the game with a run in the first as it scored on a blown squeeze attempt. Will Buschman broke for home, but Santiago, McArthur’s catcher, attempted to tag him out. Buschman avoided the tag and got to the plate safely.

The Lions had some more luck in the third inning as Will Scoszero scored on an error.

Westminster attempted a seventh-inning rally with back-to-back singles from Blake Kitwell and Zach Gonzalez, but Michael Bosco shut the door and struck out three to preserve the win.

Cody Swackhammer and Feliciano also had hits for the Mustangs, and the Lions also got base hits from Sam Etter and Jake Dudas.

The Mustangs got good starting pitching from Polano, who walked the first three batters but then settled down to strike out the next two. He finished with eight strikeouts in four innings and didn’t allow a hit.

“Once I started getting warm, I was able to throw strikes and got into my zone,” Polano said.

Polano said the tournament is just what’s needed at this time of year to prepare for the regular season.

“It’s a pretty good tournament to wake us up and get us ready for spring,” he said.

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