King’s Academy Advances To Class 3A Regional Semifinal With 7-0 Win

Matt Pisciottano of King’s Academy pitched a one-hitter, striking out eight.

Matt Pisciottano has turned it up a notch during the postseason.

The senior right-hander pitched his second consecutive complete-game shutout to lead The King’s Academy over the Community School of Naples 7-0 in the Class 3A regional quarterfinals Wednesday in West Palm Beach.

King’s Academy will host Benjamin in a regional semifinal Tuesday.

“I have not seen him with that kind of command this year,” Lions head coach Doug Magaw said of Pisciottano. “He trained real hard after his outing against Benjamin (in the district final) to get ready for this. I couldn’t be more proud of him. His command was incredible.”

Pisciottano, who had a no-hitter through five and one-third innings and finished with a one-hitter, said this was one of his best games of the season. He struck out eight and walked four while throwing 93 pitches to improve to 5-4.

“It’s definitely up there,” said Pisciottano, who now has four complete games. “Today was one of those days where everything was working — fastball, slider and change-up. Usually I have my fastball, or just one pitch, working.”

While Pisciottano was dominating on the mound, teammate John Monte was his equal at the plate.

The junior left fielder, who hits fifth, led the Lions with four RBI on a two-run double in the third and a two-run single in the fifth.

“There’s no doubt, we know Johnny can hit the ball,” said Magaw. “We depend on him; that’s why he’s there.”

It was the most RBIs in a game this year for Monte, who said he was looking for a first-pitch fastball during his at-bats.

“He (Community School starter Nick LoCoscio) was throwing really good, but after my first at-bat (a strikeout) I really started getting into the groove and it was really coming naturally today. I felt great.”

James Vaughan led the Lions (18-10) with three hits while leadoff hitter Joe Gomez had two singles and scored two runs. Ryan Boyle and Kevin Stypulkowski each had an RBI single in the sixth when King’s scored four runs to put the game out of reach.

Stypulkowski also threw out two runners at second base to end possible threats.

Magaw and Pisciottano were happy with the win but know they haven’t reached their goal.

“Everything we do is to prepare for the second season,” said Magaw, who led the team to the regional final in each of the last two seasons. “We look at this as one game at a time, one day at a time, we know that. There’s nothing you can do but wait for the day and prepare for it. We talked about being mentally and physically prepared for when it’s your time to get it done.”

Pisciottano said the playoffs have invigorated his team.

“Since the playoffs kicked in, we’ve come out with more energy looking to move forward,” said Pisciottano. “We want to move on, to get back to the regional championship that we’ve been at the last two years and get past that.”

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