Jesuit junior Jake Moreci tossed a five-hit shutout as senior Everett Denny reached base four times and hit a home run, helping the Blue Jays defeat Holy Cross 7-0 Tuesday at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.
The win secured a series split for Jesuit (18-10, 6-4 District 9-5A) and kept the Blue Jays in the race for the Catholic League championship.
With district leaders Brother Martin and Rummel set to play later Tuesday at Kirsch-Rooney, Jesuit could get in position to win the district title if things break the Blue Jays’ way the rest of the week.
But for the moment, coach Kenny Goodlett and his team would savor the way they avenged a 4-0 loss Saturday at Holy Cross (12-11, 5-5).
“We’re just caring about how we play day to day, just getting better every day, 1-0 today and now we work on being 1-0 on Thursday,” Goodlett said as he looked ahead to the opener of a two-game series against John Curtis set to begin 6 p.m. Thursday at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.
Given a five-run lead in the second inning with the help of two walks, two hit batters and a fielding error that let two runs score, Moreci struck out five as he scattered four singles and one double with one walk allowed.
He neared the LHSAA-mandated pitch-count limit when he allowed a two-out single in the seventh inning and got the final batter to fly out weakly to second baseman Derek DeLatte to finish the 109-pitch outing.
“Last time, I came out I wasn’t my sharpest,” said Moreci, the starter in a 14-4, six-inning loss to Brother Martin last week. “Today, I filled up the zone and let my defense work behind me, trusting my guys in the lineup.”
Moreci has a 5-2 record with three wins in district play against Holy Cross, Rummel and St. Augustine.
“He picked his spots with his fastball and picked his spots with his off-speed,” Holy Cross coach Aaron Barras said. “The hitters were definitely off balance. You could see in their swings. Even though some balls we hit hard, they were right at people. … He kept a nice rhythm. We tried to break it up and not let him be so comfortable. He did a nice job. I tip my cap to him.”
Leadoff hitter Denny reached base four times with two walks, a home run and a single.
Denny and sophomore Michael Brothers each drew a walk with the bases loaded in the second inning. Two more runs scored on a fielding error, and Denny scored when sophomore Michael Serio hit into to a fielder’s choice.
Denny homered to start the fourth inning and the Blue Jays added another run when Serio hit an RBI single in the sixth.
Jesuit surely would be happy if things fell the way it needed for the Blue Jays to win a district title, but it is not a requirement for success. Jesuit won the Division I select state championship last spring after it watched Brother Martin celebrate a district title several weeks earlier.
The two games against Curtis will help shape the playoff picture for Jesuit, which began the day at No. 8 in the power ratings.
“You win two here, that’s big for district and for power points,” Denny said. “That can push us up two spots or down two spots.”
Jesuit ended the game two games behind Rummel (7-2 in district before Tuesday) in the loss column and one game behind both Brother Martin (7-3) and Curtis (6-3).
The loss kept Holy Cross from having a chance to play for a district championship when it plays two games against Rummel on Thursday and Saturday.
“This one is hard because if we would have won this one and some other things happened, we could have been fighting for a district championship the last series,” Barras said. “This was hard for everybody. The kids were really hurt. I’m really hurt. But, on the table, it’s still a really great team we got to get out there and compete.”