Deletis blanks the Cavaliers on four hits; Adamski hits a 3-run home run; Patriots advance to the winner’s bracket final against 2nd-seeded Gilman; Tournament roundup and updated bracket here

by Joe DiBlasi

Fifth-seeded John Carroll’s Mason Deletis blanked top-seeded Archbishop Spalding 4-0 on a 3-hitter, Monday in Anne Arundel County, allowing the Patriots to advance to the MIAA A Conference Baseball Championship Tournament winner’s bracket final, on Thursday at Gilman.

Deletis, who started just one game all season for Coach Darrion Siler, out-dueled Spalding ace Noah Mrotek, to pull off the upset.

Neither team had a hit until the fourth inning when the Patriots (12-7) broke on top. Sophomore Frank Adamski lead off the frame with a single to right. He stole second, moved to third on a fielder’s choice, and scored on a hard hit grounder to second off the bat of Tate Gerringer.

Adamski wallopped a 3-run homer to right-center in the John Carroll fifth, after singles by Griffen Shirk and Deletis set the table, and the damage was done.

“This one is huge for us,” said Adamski. “We split with them earlier in the season, but all odds were against us coming in here today. I had a 2-0 count on two off-speed pitches, and I knew a fast ball was coming. He (Mrotek) laid it right over the plate, and I was thinking right side of the field, and I drove it and it went out.”

Deletis said his fastball had a lot of run, and his curve was working.

“My curve worked on 0-2, 1-2, and 2-2 counts. I had them guessing. They’re probably the best team in the state, but we played our game today. Our defense was great.”

Siler praised the junior righty.

“Mason throws strikes. He mixes locations and speeds really well. He proved himself in relief [during the regular season], and we decided to give him a shot today, and he stepped up. He is a competitor.”

Siler also lauded Adamski.

“I believe that Frank is an All-MIAA type player, as a sophomore. He performs well in the field, on the mound, and at the plate. Mason (Deletis) and Frank have contagious energy.”

Siker tipped his cap to Spalding.

“They are a great team, and (Noah) Mrotek is a phenomenal pitcher. The key to our success was a couple of nice double-plays, and we made the routine plays today.”

Spalding skipper Joe Palumbo summed it up succinctly.

“They got the big, two-out hit today, and we didn’t. They had the clutch hit today, and we didn’t.

“He (Deletis) kept us off balance and we didn’t adjust. He kept pounding the zone and busting our guys in, on the arm side. We barreled up some baseballs early in the game and they play great defense.”

John Carroll split a pair of games with Gilman this season and Thursday’s winner will advance to the tournament finals with the advantage of only having to win one of two games to capture the championship.

Spalding (21-4) will now begin what it hopes will be long journey through the elimination bracket when it hosts 6th-seeded Archbishop Curley on Tuesday.

Pictured above: John Carroll’s Frank Adamski (left) lanced a three-run home run and pitcher Mason Deletis blanked top-seeded Archbishop Spalding on four hits, as John Carroll advanced to the MIAA A Conference baseball winner’s bracket.

JOHN CARROLL 4, ARCHBISHOP SPALDING 0

JC 000 130 0 — 4 5 0
AS 000 000 0 — 0 3 1

JC-Deletis and Roros; AS-Mrotek, Sharman (6), Carroll (7) and McNally
WP-Deletis LP-Mrotek

HR: JC-Adamski.

GILMAN 3, MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 0

In Roland Park, 2nd-seeded Gilman broke open a scoreless pitcher’s duel with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and went on to defeat 3rd-seeded Mount St. Joseph, 3-0, in the winner’s bracket quarterfinal round of the MIAA A double-elimination tournament.

Matt Wills started the Gilman fifth with a bloop single to right. Jermaine Conyers, who ran for Wills, took off for second as Matt Liddell dropped a sacrifice bunt, which was fielded by St. Joe pitcher Patrick Bauer. Bauer’s throw to first was low, allowing Liddell to reach on the error and Conyers ended up on third. That brought Ryan Martinez to the plate and he chased both runners home with a booming triple to center. Martinez then scored on a sac fly by Lucas Matanguihan to give the Greyhounds a 3-0 lead.

Bennett Speicher, Owen Holmgren and Cooper Sidell each went two shutout innings for Gilman (14-8) and, although they were not overpowering, they were crafty, keeping the Gaels off balance and producing a lot of soft contact. In fact, the Gaels managed only two hits.

Casey Bishop came on to pitch the seventh inning and worked a scoreless inning to earn the save.

Gilman (14-8) will now host the winner’s bracket final on Thursday against 5th-seeded John Carroll. St. Joe (15-6) moves into the elimination bracket and will host 4th-seeded Calvert Hall on Tuesday.

CALVERT HALL 10, MCDONOGH 0

Fourth-seeded Calvert Hall bounced back from its loss to John Carroll in the opening round of the tournament to 10-run 9th-seeded McDonogh, 10-0 in five innings, in the elimination bracket.

The Cardinals (14-8) scored in all five of their at bats, breaking on top with four in the first, two in the second and third, and one each in the fourth and fifth to back the combined shutout work of Alex Kahn and Michael Blair. Kahn pitched four innings and allowed just one hit, the only hit McDonogh managed in the contest, and struck four Eagles. Blair struck out the side in the fifth in his only inning of work.

Leadoff hitter Jake Butler was 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored for Calvert Hall and Scott Borgmann was also 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Kahn had two hits, including a double, scored two runs and drove in one and Lamar King was 2-for-2 with a run scored and two RBI. In addition, Owen Liberto had an RBI double and scored a run.

McDonogh ends its season at 1-19, while Calvert Hall earned a trip to Irvington, on Tuesday, to face 3rd-seeded Mount St. Joseph in another elimination game.

ARCHBISHOP CURLEY 1, LOYOLA 0

Sixth-seeded Archbishop Curley continued its recent struggles at the plate, but was able to manufacture the only run it needed, Monday, to edge 7th-seeded Loyola, 1-0, in the elimination bracket of the MIAA A Conference double-elimination tournament.

Curley (16-9) benefited from four Loyola walks in the bottom of the sixth, as well as a wild pitch that allowed pinch runner Riley McBride to race home with what proved to be the winning run. A fourth Loyola walk in the inning reloaded the bases with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts prevented the Friars from doing any further damage.

Curley managed seven hits in the game, all against Loyola starter Stephen Schenning, who went five strong innings before getting into trouble in the sixth. Schenning, who was tagged with the loss, struck out five and walked two in 5.1 innings of work. Leadoff hitter Ryan Torres was the only Curley batter with two hits and the Friars did not have an extra-base hit.

On this day, however, not much offense was needed as junior pitcher Ryan Edmonds was absolutely dominating. Edmunds, who threw a no-hitter earlier this year, limited Loyola to just two hits while striking out 10 and allowing no walks.

Curley will now travel to top-seeded Spalding on Tuesday for an elimination game.

2021 A Baseball Bracket WBF1