St. Laurence capitalizes on miscues, topples Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel coach Brian Hurry considers his team’s defense its biggest asset. That wasn’t the case Saturday. The Caravan committed three costly errors and St. Laurence took advantage, registering a 7-4 Catholic League Blue win in Burbank.

All seven Vikings runs were unearned.

The Caravan committed two errors in the first inning, which allowed the Vikings (16-5, 9-1) to plate five runs.

Pitcher Zach Lewis (2-for-4) and T.J. Marik recorded two-run singles and Ryan Rybakowski added a run-scoring hit to give the Vikings a 5-1 edge against Caravan ace Jeremy Kravetz.

“That was huge,” Lewis said. “It took a lot of pressure off me.”

The Caravan (19-4, 8-1) cut the deficit to 5-4 with a three-run fourth inning.

Ako Thomas drove in two runs on a double to center field and Josh Stowers followed with another double that sent Thomas home.

Stowers later stole third base, putting the tying run 90 feet away. However, Oregon recruit Jerry Houston flied out to end the threat.

An error in the fifth inning brought Roger Wilson to the plate and the junior made the Caravan pay. The right-handed hitting first baseman crushed a two-out, tworun homer to left field for a 7-4 advantage.

For Wilson, the clutch roundtripper couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I’ve been thinking too much about previous at-bats and letting it get to me,” Wilson said. “My mind was clear and it felt good to get my mojo back.”

Lewis slammed the door on the Caravan the final two innings. The senior allowed six hits, four walks and seven strikeouts in a 121-pitch effort.

“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” said Lewis, who relied heavily on his fastball. “I just kept trying to attack the zone.”

Kravetz scattered six hits, walked three and struck out one over five innings.

Jason Gasser was 2-for-3 for the Caravan.