Xaverian Breezes By, Eliminates Red Raiders

This one was about as anticlimactic as it gets, at least for the home team Red Raiders.

Barnstable High School's varsity baseball nine (11-7)  fell to guest Xaverian (14-9) this afternoon in Hyannis, making a loser of Keegan Dellacona (3-6) who tossed seven admirable innings of two-run relief. He came on in relief of starter Pete Liimatainen who went 1 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits, one walk and his defense behind him committed five errors, including four in the outfield.

The beginning of this MIAA Division 1 South Sectional Quarterfinal match-up did not look pretty for the hosts, and while there were flashes of hope throughout, Barnstable never really could get things going in the field or at the plate, with the sole exception being one run scored in the fifth when Dylan Morris (2-4) plated Luke Besse (1-5) with a single.

All totalled, Xaverian had 12 hits, with Dellacona allowing just four in his seven inning performance. He allowed one run in the top of the third inning on a single, walk and ground out.

Xaverian jumped right on top when its leadoff man reached on a two-base error, then scored on a ground out. A basehit, walk, double and single with another outfield error staked the guests with a quick, 4-0 lead it would never relinquish.

Xaverian picked up another three runs in the second frame when, with two quick outs, its batters collected four straight baseknocks, compounded with two more outfield errors and one in the infield.

The guests picked up their final run in the top of the third inning with Dellacona on the bump, leading off with a single, followed by a walk, two stolen bases and an RBI-ground out.

BHS threatened rallies in the second, fourth and fifth but could not muster anything more than that for the remaining four frames. The Red Raiders finish the season at 11-7 and were eliminated from postseason play.

Morris went 2-4 with the game's sole RBI, followed by Mark Brodd who went 2-5.