The Cavaliers continue as a force to be reckoned with in baseball after sending Marywood back to the “Electric City” and earning a fourth consecutive win. The Cavs dominated in a 5-0 shutout against Marywood’s Pacers, remaining unbeaten in the Atlantic East Conference.
The teams battled in the familiar confines of Cabrini’s Carroll field, where Cabrini reigns unvanquished in conference play so far this season.
“Shutouts are pretty rare in baseball, especially in the conference where there are a lot of heavy hitters,” junior catcher Oscar Bautz said. “Being a part of something like that, whether you’re on the field or cheering on your team is really exciting.”
The Cavs scored early on setting the game’s pace.
In the first inning, junior first baseman Ryan Dipper advanced graduate center fielder Dustin Sutton at the plate on a fielder’s choice, putting the team ahead 1-0.
Senior left fielder Zack Brook then doubled to center starting the second inning. Sophomore designated hitter Jaden Dickerson brought Brook home with a sacrifice fly giving the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead after he reached third base on a passed ball.
The next four innings saw a duel between the two openers, but in the sixth inning, Cabrini’s bats finally broke through.
Senior catcher Christian Strickland, who doubled to lead off the inning, was brought home by sophomore right fielder Sean Glatts’ two-strike, two-out single up the middle.
The Pacers settled into scoring territory in the top of the seventh inning, with runners on second and third with two outs. Cabrini baseball Head Coach Nick Weisheipl made a strategic pitching change, substituting junior pitcher Dom Marotta for sophomore pitcher Jordan Silvestri.
With only one pitch, Marotta forced a line out to left field for the final out of the inning, leaving two Pacer runners stranded on base.
“Marotta came out of the pen when I got into a little trouble on the mound and really shut everything down,” Silvestri said. “Towards the end Marywood gained a little momentum but Dom came in, executed, and got everyone fired up. It was electric.”
In the eighth, the Cavs offense added two more insurance runs increasing their lead to 5-0. Cabrini took advantage of a Pacers error and received an RBI-double from freshman second baseman Brady Campbell. Marotta dominated the mound for the rest of the game.
Silvestri was one of the game’s stars, pitching almost seven shutout innings, giving up only four hits, and racking up four punch outs. The right-handed pitcher acknowledged the accomplishment as a steppingstone in his career.
“It was definitely a confidence booster,” Silvestri said. “Having that accomplishment really got me going and it gave the boys a lot of momentum going into this series.”
Junior shortstop Colt Narciso, a new addition to the Cavaliers team, was another top performer. Narciso had an outstanding day at the plate increasing his hit streak to six games with a 3-for-4 performance that included two doubles and a single. The third-seeded team has a 14-7 record after the impressive win, establishing a promising road to the conference championship. The Cavaliers have high hopes for the rest of their season.
“We play off of each other really well and when we get the momentum, no one can really stop us,” Silvestri said. “We want to go the distance for sure. We have our sights set on the championship.”
