STAB wipes out Benedictine

Head coach Alan Swanson didn’t get his wish when the state playoff pairings were announced and his St. Anne’s-Belfield squad drew Benedictine.
“I did not want them in the first round of the playoffs,” Swanson said. “They are a very solid ball club and they swing the bat — but Brett [Goodloe] threw a great game.”
Goodloe tossed six strong innings and gave up just five hits while striking out seven to lead St. Anne’s to a 6-2 victory over the Cadets. The junior right-hander’s night ended in the seventh after he allowed Benedictine’s Teddy Kozak to reach first base. Goodloe immediately got noticeably frustrated with himself as Kozak headed up the first base line.
“Coach Swanson told me that if a guy gets on, my night was over and I wanted to finish it,” Goodloe said. “But Kyle [Long] closed the deal — he pitched awesome.”
Long struck out the side to close out the contest and help vault the Saints to the VISBA state semifinals.
“In a big situation, Kyle loves the ball, and you can count on him,” Swanson said.
The three-strikeout ninth paired nicely with Long’s 2 for 3, two-RBI night at the plate. His two-run single that came after falling behind with an 0-2 count in the bottom of the sixth provided a couple of critical insurance runs for the Saints.
It was freshman Kevin White’s fifth-inning groundout that proved to be the game-winner. White’s grounder to first base scored Michael Spinosa, who blasted a double to the right-center field gap to lead off the fifth.
“He’s a very aggressive free swinger and we encourage him to do that,” Swanson said. “We want him to swing the bat, he’s fun to watch.”
St. Anne’s appeared in control of the contest until Benedictine evened the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Taylor Buran and Will Swoope knocked in the runs with Buran ripping a triple and Swoope connecting on an RBI single.
Still, despite throwing an impressive game, junior Kevin Buran couldn’t keep St. Anne’s off the board in the bottom half when White brought in Spinosa. Buran and the Cadets escaped a lot of situations throughout the game to keep things close, but St. Anne’s continued to put the ball in play.
“We were on thin ice all night,” said Benedictine coach Sean Ryan. “We made a couple of plays and we put on a pick that helped us. Those situations don’t necessarily faze us.”
St. Anne’s will take on the St. Christopher’s/Trinity winner at a neutral site on Friday at 8 p.m.