Atlantic Extends Streak to 12 With 8-4 Win Over Summit Christian

Sam Murphy at bat for Summit with Brad Myott behind the plate for Atlantic.

For much of Tuesday’s game, when one team scored, the other team answered. However, when the Atlantic Eagles piled on four runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 8-4, Summit Christian could not respond as the Eagles went on to win.

Although the victory was the 12th in a row for Atlantic, it was only its third against a team that has a winning record.

Summit Christian set the tone early in the first inning when Efren Sanchez and John Silviano hit back-to-back singles to right field. When Sanchez attempted to take two bases on the single, a wild throw allowed him to reach third safely while Silviano advanced to second. An Anthony Delaney sacrifice fly to center plated Sanchez. With two out, first baseman Sam Murphy drove a double into left field and gave the Saints the early 2-0 lead.

The Eagles also came out swinging. After Saints starter Anthony Delaney struck out the lead-off man, the Eagles rattled off five straight singles. Jesse Kieffer, Rigo Beltran and Brad Myott came in to score, giving Atlantic a 3-2 lead after the first.

The Saints answered in kind with four singles in a row in the bottom of the second, culminating in a bases-loaded single by Efren Sanchez that drove in the tying run. However, Atlantic starter Cody Bryant induced a ground ball to first that was converted into a double play to end the threat.

Still tied at three in the fifth, Bryant again found himself in a jam after surrendering his only walk of the day to John Silviano followed by a single to left by Delaney, the opposing pitcher. Silviano got a great jump and stole third while courtesy runner Dakota Julya simultaneously stole second. Sam Murphy hit a grounder to second base, but it was enough to score Silviano from third and give Murphy his second RBI of the day. Now leading 4-3 with Julya on third base, Shane Swanson came to bat and hit a grounder to first, but with only one out, the runner at third hesitated and got caught in a rundown halfway to home. He was eventually tagged out and Swanson himself was caught in a rundown trying to take third. The double play ended the Saints’ threat.

To start the bottom half of the fifth, Brad Myott reached base on an error by the second baseman. Following a Cody Bryant walk and Chris Brown single, the bases were loaded. With one out, Daniel Metz drove one deep enough to center to allow Myott to tag and score the tying run.

After Cody Bryant had pitched five solid innings, Atlantic head coach Steve Wilson called on senior John Clarke to hold the Saints at four.

“Coach brings me in in tough situations because I think he has confidence that I can get it done,” Clarke said afterwards.

“I just throw strikes and have trust that my defense will hold up behind me.”

Clarke pitched a perfect sixth with the aid of a pair of sharp defensive plays by shortstop Bobby Borque. The Eagles picked up at the top of their lineup and after the first three reached base, Brad Myott drove home the go-ahead run when his grounder to first was misplayed. That left the bases loaded for the pitcher Clarke with no outs.

“I wasn’t too worried about hitting when I came in to pitch, so when I came to the plate, I just did what I could to help myself and create a cushion,” Clarke said.

Clarke stroked a two-run single to left and made it a 7-4 ballgame. A well-placed bunt down the first-base line by Chris Brown led to an error and another run for the Eagles.

With an 8-4 lead, Clarke shut down the Saints again in the seventh and closed out the win.

Summit Christian head coach John Drouin talked about his team’s subpar defensive effort after the game.

“There were a couple times where all we had to do was touch first base, and we had a perfect double play ball that was bobbled,” he said. “We make those plays seven days a week. We didn’t deserve to win this game, but I’m not going to hammer them about it. These things happen. That’s baseball.”

Steve Wilson was proud of his Eagles and the way they competed against a very good Summit Christian team.

“We knew they were an outstanding team and we were just going to battle them and do the best that we could do,” Wilson said. “We tried not to make mistakes and tried to put the ball in play and see what happens.”

Atlantic certainly did just that, as it committed only one error and tallied 11 hits. In addition, the four-run sixth inning was largely a result of pressure applied through the bunting game and moving base runners.

The heart of the Eagle lineup carried the team, with the two through six hitters going 9-for-17 with six RBI and seven runs scored. Myott came up especially big for Atlantic, scoring three of the eight runs himself and driving in two more.

The Saints were led by Murphy at the plate. He had a single, a double and two RBI in three plate appearances.

Both teams play Trinity Christian next as part of the Lancer Spring Tournament at John I. Leonard High School. Atlantic plays them on Thursday and Summit Christian on Friday.

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