7 Loyola Miscues Put Crespi Within Reach of Playoffs

Crespi High stayed in contention for the Del Rey League title--not with a little help from its friends, but with a lot of help from its opponent.

Loyola made seven errors, five during an eight-run fourth inning, as the Celts cruised to their fifth consecutive league victory, an 11-2 win Tuesday at Loyola.

Crespi (14-10, 6-4 in league play) trails league-leading Notre Dame by a half-game and will break its second-place tie with Bosco Tech when it visits Bosco Tech today.

The Celts close the regular season Friday by playing host to Alemany. A split in the final two games will give Crespi a berth in the Southern Section 5-A playoffs.

“We’re in a lot better shape right now,” Crespi Coach Scott Muckey said. “Before Tuesday we were in a position where if we won all three games we could be the league champions, but if we lost once, we could miss the playoffs.

“But now we can afford to lose once and still go to the playoffs.”

In the pivotal fourth inning, Crespi sent 12 batters to the plate against Tom Martin (9-3), combining five singles, two doubles, and the five errors to overcome a 2-0 deficit.

“They handed us the game,” Muckey said. “We started off shaky but I was happy with the way things turned out.”

Loyola Coach Kelly Nicholson was asked if the fifth was his team’s worst defensive inning of the season.

“Maybe in the history of the school,” Nicholson said after his team lost its third consecutive game to fall to 12-9, 6-5. “One error just led to another and they got the momentum going. It’s really tough to come back when you give them so many outs in an inning.”

Senior Dan Carroll (9-2) was dominant once he had the big lead, surrendering just two hits over the final four innings.

“I felt I was in the groove,” said Carroll, who allowed four hits and no earned runs while striking out 10. “A key was that I was throwing my curve for strikes.”

Carroll won’t get much time to savor the complete game. In fact, he might not get any. Muckey says Carroll could start or relieve in today’s game.

“He’s done it before and it’s not really a problem because he doesn’t throw that hard,” Muckey said.

John Dempsey and Chad Nichols each had three hits to lead Crespi’s 11-hit attack.

Dempsey drove in two runs with a double and a single in the fourth inning and two more with a sixth-inning double.

Mark Cavaretta also had a pair of doubles and scored twice.

The Celts have rebounded from a 1-4 start in league play, and Carroll is not surprised.

“I knew we could win them all, but it would have been very difficult,” Carroll said. “I didn’t think we had a shot.”