Mathewson McCarthy
'AAA' Cardinals defeat Red Sox, 9-7 in season opener

The Mathewson McCarthy "AAA" Cardinals and Red Sox opened the season at Wehrle 3 on a rainy evening on Thursday, April 26.

The weather wasn't going stop these two talented teams from battling each other as the Cardinals came away with a hard-fought 9-7 win.

The Cardinals and Red Sox each had their fair share of excellent hits and plays in the field. Leading the offensive charge for the Cardinals with two hits were Nathan Berke and Michael Steffan. Shawn Barbalato scored three runs. Strong pitching performances for the Cardinals were provided by Steffan, Berke, and Patrick Irving.

The play of game occurred in the last inning. Daniel Guercio hit Berke with a cutoff throw from the outfield. Berke wheeled around and made a perfect throw to Nick Valenti at third base for a crucial out.

The Red Sox's offensive stars were Riley Cott, Jordan Brown, Mitchell Perelstein and Jack Verdi, who each had nice hits. Paul Jager, Luke Eberhard, and Jordan Buell pitched very well for the Red Sox in the loss.

Majors West

Red Sox 8, Royals 2

The Red Sox and Royals opened their season Thursday evening, April 26, in the rain with the Red Sox capturing the win.

The Red Sox struck quickly, posting a three-run first inning. AJ Aqulino, Franciso McGowan and Jimmy Honsberger all scored runs. Mc- Gowan recorded the first extra base hit of the year with a solid double.

The Red Sox pitching held the Royals at bay all game as Honsberger, McGowan and Matt Mcomber all pitched two effective innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 12.

Phillip Gourney and David Archer pitched a nice game for the Royals while Dennis Gilbert quarterbacked the Royals from behind the plate.

Chris Mussachio, Dante Sparcino and Stephen Tarabolletti all had good defensive games for the Red Sox. The Red Sox closed the game with a fourrun sixth. Drew Sember capped the scoring with a walk which led to an eventual run.

Major East

Royals 9, Red Sox 7

The Major East Royals started the season the way they finished last year, with a win over the Red Sox.

In a game that saw five lead changes, it was not a surprise to see the game come down to the final inning as the Royals scored four runs in the top of the sixth to keep the lead for the win.

Down by two runs, the Royals got a one-out single by Brenden Chambers who scored when Matt Jungier's grounder forced an errant throw to first base.

Rob Paslaqua's grounder to third was mishandled and put two runners on base. Starting pitcher Timmy Coulter then sent a ball deep to left center for a double, scoring Paslaqua and Jungier with the game tying and game winning runs. The Royals added an insurance run when Coulter came home on a wild pitch.

The Red Sox scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Tommy Kline's double plated two runs and he later scored on Blake Schneider's sacrifice grounder.

The Royals got two runs back in the top of the second. Michael Geiger's double split the outfielders, scoring Coulter, who led off with a single, and Matt Pragel, who walked.

The Red Sox got one run back in their half of the inning to retake the lead. In the top of the third, Richard Schwartz led off with a single up the gut and scored on Chamber's smash down the line for a double. Chambers then stole third and came home on Paslaqua's base hit to take the lead. Coulter then shut down the Red Sox's heart of the lineup in the bottom half of the inning.

After cooling down the Royal bats in the fourth, the Red Sox retook the lead. Two consecutive walks put Schneider in scoring position as Todd Huber's sacrifice grounder to second brought him home.

The Royals tied it up in the fifth. Jake Berke led off with a walk, stole second and third base and came home on a passed ball.

The Red Sox scored two runs the hard way. After getting the first two runners of the inning thrown out at home by fine defensive plays, Dan Sturniola and Nick Swain scored off the bat of Kline to give the Red Sox a two-run lead again going into the sixth.

After the Royals scored four more runs to take the lead, Paslaqua retired the next three batters, in order, to get the win on the mound.

Todd Huber's diving catch in the sixth prevented the Royals from adding more runs in that inning. Chambers was a force behind the plate, nailing a runner attempting to steal second base to close out the third. Jungier caught the last three innings for the Royals and made two excellent tags at the plate for outs.