Considering that No. 5 St. Rita has struggled on the mound this spring, getting five solid innings from Louisville-bound Joey Filomeno and a 7-4 win against St. Ignatius on Thursday was a step in the right direction.
Filomeno allowed four runs and struck out seven for the Mustangs (10-3, 2-1 Catholic League). Filomeno also cranked out a pair of home runs for three RBIs against Wolfpack starter Jack Fischer, who hit Filomeno twice.
Did the homers make up for the three-run shot that Filomeno gave up to St. Ignatius’ John Reynolds in a laborious 40-pitch, four-run third?
“Absolutely not,” Filomeno said. “Getting the win is good, but I’d rather hit my spot every time, have command of all three pitches and hit the ball well. That’s just who I am. Every loss we get is my fault somehow, because I always can do something better for the team.”
There wasn’t much he could’ve done better to start off.
With a 3-0 cushion, Filomeno struck out four of the first six he faced, including the side in the second. He hit his first home run of the game with nobody on in the top of the third to make it 4-0.
In the bottom of the inning, the Wolfpack made Filomeno work. He walked three and watched two of those runners score on Reynolds’ homer to make it 4-3. Sean Brennan singled in Eric Jacobson with the tying run for St. Ignatius (8-4, 0-2).
“We wanted to extend innings against him,” Wolfpack coach Sean O’Connor said. “We did that in the third and I was proud of the way we came back, especially against a pitcher like him.”
Filomeno tossed two more scoreless innings to keep the Mustangs in it until Kyle Stearns drove in the go-ahead run with two out in the sixth.
John Starcevich relieved Filomeno with two scoreless innings for the win.
Player of the game:
Joey Filomeno, St. Rita, 2-2, 2 HR, 3 RBIs, 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 SO.
Key performers:
St. Rita – Kyle Stearns, 2-4, RBI, R; St. Ignatius – John Reynolds, 1-4, HR, 3 RBIs, R.
