Nick Pavia outdueled Ricky Eusebio in a battle of two of the CHSAA’s top pitchers as St. Joseph by the Sea defeated St. Raymond, 5-2, in a Class A intersectional seeding round game Wednesday afternoon in Huguenot.
The Wagner-bound senior allowed just two hits, striking out eight and walking three. He retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced to lead second-seeded St. Joseph by the Sea (15-1), which takes on top-seeded Xaverian Friday afternoon at Shore Road to determine the No. 1 overall seed for next week’s intersectional tournament.
Eusebio only allowed four hits in 5-2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking three. He was done in, though, by five errors.
St. Joseph by the Sea raced out to a 4-0 lead after three innings, highlighted by Vin Garcia’s two-run home run in the first inning. Chris Ramanauskas added an RBI single in the second, while the Vikings tacked on two more runs in the third on an error.
Manny Rivera doubled in the fourth inning for the Ravens first hit. Jon Crucey and Luis Paniagua followed with RBI groundouts for St. Raymond’s (13-6), which hosts Stepinac Friday afternoon to determine the third and fourth seeds.
St. John’s Prep 7, Monsignor Scanlan 5: Alex Gounaris went the distance, striking out six and was aided by a strong defensive effort by freshman third baseman Gabe Gonnel. Matt Mullin and Joe McDonald each went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a double and two runs scored in a CHSAA Class B intersectional playoff game Wednesday afternoon. St. John’s (11-3) will meet Rice Saturday afternoon at Monsignor Scanlan.