Lexington Downs St. James 7-2 in I.P. Classic Finale

Georgetown, S.C. – Zach Paquette, Nick Ciuffo and Ryan Brown collected two hits each and Trey Watts pitched shutout ball in relief helping top-ranked Lexington to a 7-2 win over No. 6 St. James in its final game of the 2013 International Paper High School Baseball Classic at Mike Johnson Park on Sunday.

Lexington, which improved to 4-1 and won three of four games at the I.P. Classic, opens Region V-AAAA play on Tuesday when they host Aiken at 7 p.m. St. James, ranked 6th in the preseason AAA poll, fell to 2-2.

Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the fourth, David Barboza was hit by a pitch to open the frame and moved to second on a wild pitch.  After Reece Burnett lined a single to right, Watts delivered a sacrifice fly to right that scored Barboza and tied the game at 2-all. Dalton Addy’s suicide squeeze bunt scored Burnett and Paquette added a two-out, two-run single to center that capped the Wildcats’ four-run inning and gave them a 5-2 lead.

Ciuffo added an RBI double in the sixth inning and eventually scored on the play on a throwing error that stretched Lexington’s advantage to 7-2.

Watts (1-0) was the winner blanking the Sharks on just one hit with five strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings.  Trent Revis (0-1) suffered the loss allowing seven runs, six earned, on 10 hits over six innings.

Brown finished 2-for-3 while Ciuffo and Paquette went 2-for-4 for Lexington. Dillon LeDuc and Carter Brakefield led the Sharks with two hits each.

Lexington 7, St. James 2
SJ – 002 000 0 – 2 – 5 – 3
LX – 010 402 x – 7 – 10 – 1
WP – Trey Watts (1-0). LP – Trent Revis (0-1).

Hitters:
Lexington: Ryan Brown 2-for-3, Nick Ciuffo 2-4, Zach Paquette 2-4.
St. James: Dillon LeDuc 2-3, Carter Brakefield 2-3.
Lexington plays host to Aiken at 7 p.m. on Tuesday to open Region V-AAAA play.