On most days, a complete-game, one-hitter is good enough to earn a victory. But on Friday afternoon, Holy Cross hurler Steve Engelmann was only second best.
Christ the King’s Joe Mortillaro tossed a no-hitter as the Royals defeated the Knights, 1-0, at Preller Field in Queens Village.
The Manhattan-bound right-hander struck out 12, walked one and hit two batters. Engelmann, the hard-luck loser, gave up just Patrick O’Reilly’s fourth-inning single and struck out seven as Holy Cross fell to 3-6.
“He pitched excellent,” Christ the King coach Billy Oettinger said of Mortillaro. “He was pitching behind in the count most of the time, but they weren’t touching his fastball.”
Christ the King (3-6) scored its lone run in the third as Anthony LoCascio reached home on a throwing error. The Royals threw the ball around on an attempted pickoff in the bottom of the third, but centerfielder Frank Smith made a huge play, nailing Stephen Wolfring at third to end the potential threat.
Xavier 6, Cardinal Spellman 4: Matt Drucker had three hits and scored two runs, James McCool had two hits and two RBIs, while pitching six strong innings, Nick DiLeo had two hits and an RBI, Danny D’Angelo had a hit and two RBIs, James Kahaly had a hit and an RBI and Sean Meekins picked up the save for No. 8 Xavier (4-5), which snapped a five-game losing streak Friday at Randall’s Island. Spellman fell to 3-4.
Xaverian 11, St. Francis Prep 0: At Cunningham Park Friday morning, Elvin Soto had two hits, Alex Bautista had three hits, Bobby McKenna belted a bases-loaded triple, Gabe Hernandez and two hits and Blaise Scerbo pitched five scoreless innings for No. 3 Xaverian (9-1), which has outscored the opposition, 43-1, in its last four league games. St. Francis Prep fell to 5-5.
Regis 9, Salesian 4: Nick Picht allowed one hit, struck out five and walked two in four scoreless innings, Mike Comiskey and Ed Kelly each tossed an inning of scoreless relief, Julien Machuca belted a first-inning grand slam, doubled and scored twice and B.J. Jacobson and Tommy Gorman had two hits apiece for Regis (4-5), which has won four in a row, Friday in New Rochelle. Salesian fell to 2-7.
Archbishop Stepinac 5, St. Peter’s 3: Nick Carpinello doubled to right-center field, driving in Greg DiGiacinto to break a 2-2 tie with two outs in the top of the seventh inning and Nick Euvino had a two-run triple for Archbishop Stepinac (4-3) Friday at Richmond County Bank Balllpark. Danny Monzi and Joe Flack drove in runs for St. Peter’s (1-7).
Monsignor Farrell 8, All Hallows 0: Anthony Storz pitched a complete-game, four-hitter, striking out nine and walking four, Dom Camerada was 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored and Mike DePaola had a pair of hits to lead No. 1 Monsignor Farrell (8-0) Friday afternoon at the College of Staten Island. No. 5 All Hallows fell to 6-3.
Moore Catholic 11, Mount St. Michael 0: Shea Spitzbarth allowed one hit in five shutout innings and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Chris Goetz belted a two-run home run in a six-run third inning and Matt Diorio was 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead No. 6 Moore in The Bronx Friday afternoon. Mount fell to 1-9.
Iona Prep 6, Cardinal Hayes 4: Christian Berg had a double and a home run, Vinny DeMaria went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Christian Fiorito was 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI, Justin Muratore was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs as No. 4 Iona Prep (7-2) rallied from an early 3-0 deficit Friday afternoon in New Rochelle. Stanley Susana had a home run and drove in two runs for Cardinal Hayes (5-4).