Drury Closes out Season by Shutting Out St. Joe's
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- In a season of great pitching performances for the Drury baseball team, it was only fitting that the Blue Devils would receive one more solid outing in its final game of the regular season against St. Joe's.Sophomore Alex Bush and junior Robert Jutras combined to hold the Crusaders to just three hits in Saturday's 2-0 win at Joe Wolfe Field. Bush got the start and struck out four batters with two walks to earn the win and improve his personal record to 2-2 this season. Jutras pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game, fanning one and allowing one base on balls to earn the save.
Their efforts ruined a solid start by St. Joe's starter Devon Johnston, who held the hosts to just two runs on four hits and two walks. Both of those runs came in the bottom of the first inning, when senior Peter Dassatti worked one of Johnston's two walks on the day. Dassatti came home on a one-out triple by classmate Chase Preite, who was then knocked in on a single through a drawn-in infield by fellow senior Tyler Benoit (2 for 3 at the plate).
"It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win," Drury head coach Al Marceau said. "Alex did an awesome job on the mound after pitching twice earlier in the week. We played excellently defensively. Arich Erdeski made several nice plays in right field and one spectacular one in the fourth inning.
"We struggled offensively, however. We weren't very disciplined at the plate, but we were able to come up with two big hits in the first. It was a well-played and well-pitched ball game by both teams. We are going to rest up and get back to work on Tuesday. My players are physically and mentally exhausted at this point. We essentially played 18 games in about 25 days to close out the season."
The Blue Devils, who finished the regular season with a record of 13-7, were rewarded for their tough North Division schedule by earning a first-round bye in the upcoming Division 2 Western Massachusetts Baseball Tournament. Drury drew the No. 2 seed overall, sandwiched in between fellow Berkshire County teams, No. 1 Monument Mountain (15-5) and No. 3 Wahconah (13-7). Marceau's club now waits until Monday afternoon, when it faces the winner of No. 7 Hoosac Valley (12-8) and No. 10 Belchertown (7-13). Those two teams square off Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Hoosac.
It doesn't take a genius to understand how big a Drury-Hoosac game will be in the quarterfinal round of the Western Mass. tournament. The two arch rivals played twice already this season, with the Blue Devils earning victories of 6-2 and 9-5. Anything can happen in this historic rivalry, however, so it should be very interesting to watch if the Hurricanes can knock off the Orioles on Friday.