Fifth Inning Magic Secures John Carroll Victory

One inning can make or break a game, it can turn what looked to be an easy win into a heartbreaking loss. For the John Carroll Rams, they benefited tremendously from that one big inning, utilizing a big fifth to sneak away with a 2-1 win over the Jupiter Christian Eagles on Thursday afternoon.

The Rams improve to 2-0 in 3A-7 to maintain the top position in the district.

Scoreless coming into the fifth inning despite opportunities earlier in the game, John Carroll’s Royce Neil started the rally off with a one-out walk and, with two outs, came around to score on an RBI double from Mario Presutti. With the agile Ryan Trabulsy in as a courtesy runner for Presutti, Chase Solesky lined a single to left field and, thanks to Trabulsy’s speed, gave the Rams a 2-1 lead.

For Solesky, who had pitched five innings of six-strikeout ball up to that point and was set to take the loss if things didn’t change, the lead shift had to have been even more satisfying. With the lead now in their favor and Solesky up as the pitcher of record, Rams manager Andy Wells felt comfortable bringing in reliever Harrison Stacy to close things out for John Carroll. Not only did Stacy close things out, but he did it in perfect form, not allowing a single base runner in his 16 pitches.

Pitching a spectacular game and taking the tough loss for the Eagles (8-3, 1-2) was Nik Constantakos, who stuck out seven on 108 pitches. Constantakos, who pitched all seven innings in the loss, also drove in his team’s lone run with a first-inning RBI single.

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