BALTIMORE – The Maritime College baseball team began its 2025 campaign by taking on St. John Fisher in the opening game of the Baltimore Invitational from Johns Hopkins University's Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium on Saturday. Trailing by a run, the Privateers loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the ninth. However, Maritime (0-1) was unable to push the tying run across and the Cardinals (1-1) came away with a 2-1 victory.
St. John Fisher's first two batters reached in the top of the first, but
Matt Demme (Carmel, NY) got out of the jam with a double play and a strikeout. The Cardinals then scored the game's first run on Jimmy McCardle's sacrifice fly in the second. Jackson Frey later made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the top of the fifth.
After being held to five singles over the first seven innings, the Privateers finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth.
Harry Leipold (Thornwood, NJ) started the rally with a two-out walk before moving to second on
Alex Bardi's (Wantagh, NY) base hit.
Michael Frazzetta (Howard Beach, NY) followed with an RBI single to left that got Maritime within 2-1.
In the bottom of the ninth,
Ryan Wood (Huntington Station, NY) was hit by a pitch with two out, then
Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY) and
Chris Picarella (Levittown, NY) each drew a walk to load the bases. Anthony Lang struck out Leipold, though, to earn the save and close out the 2-1 for St. John Fisher.
Bardi went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Frazzetta was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Demme (0-1) took the loss after yielding two runs on six hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Sean Mylan (Lynbrook, NY) tossed 1.2 innings of hitless relief, notching three strikeouts and issuing two walks. After
Haydn Strycharz (Pittstown, NJ) got the last out of the eighth,
Jared Kay (Lewes, DE) recorded two strikeouts in a perfect ninth.
For the Cardinals, Jack Griffin and Andrew Roman each had two hits. Patrick McGuire got the start on the mound and threw three scoreless innings. He surrendered four hits and struck out one. Tanner Frank (1-0) was credited with the win after allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts and two walks over 4.2 innings. Lang registered three strikeouts and two walks in 1.1 innings.
On Sunday, the teams will meet again at 11 a.m. The Privateers will then square off with No. 6 Johns Hopkins (1-0) at 2:30 p.m.
