St. Joe’s baseball falls in Catholic state semifinals

St. Peter’s, the No. 15 ranked high school baseball team in the nation by BaseballAmerica.com, defeated St. Joe’s 4-2 Saturday in the Catholic High School Athletic Association state semifinals at University St. John’s in Queens.

The Marauders finished the season 18-10. St. Peter’s (31-2) advanced to face Archbishop Molloy in the final.

In the first inning, St. Joe’s Bryce Mucica drew a one-out walk and Sean Connor doubled to the left field corner to put runners on second and third. But St. Peter’s starting pitcher Jack Kehoe struck out the next two batters to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the inning, St. Peter’s Ty Mainolfi drew a walk to St. Joe’s starting pitcher Bryce Cureo, then stole second and third as Mateo Gordon walked. With riders in the corners, Gordon stole second. Both scored on Kehoe’s two-run triple. Kehoe was thrown from home plate trying to hit an inside-the-park home run.

St. Joe’s broke through in the top of the fourth. With one out, Aiden Whitehead doubled to left and moved to third on a passed ball before Giorgio Panepinto walked. Panepinto stole second before Dominic Floccare walked to load the bases. Everett Elia delivered a two-run single to left to tie the game at 2.

But in the bottom of the sixth, St. Peter’s Justin Levine made an error and moved to second on the play. With one out, Levine stole third and Anthony Macaluso walked. Ty Graczyk entered the game for the Marauders and Macaluso took second thanks to a delayed flight. Vincent Grimaldi then delivered a two-run single to right to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead.

In the top of the seventh, St. Joe’s threatened, loading the bases with no outs. But St. Peter’s pitcher Chris Bedford struck out the next three batters he faced to end the game.