Chaminade Fumbles Chance to Drop Loyola, Which Picks Up Ground

Loyola High tightened the Mission League baseball race with a 3-1 victory over Chaminade on Friday at Chaminade.

The Cubs (15-5, 5-1 in league play), two days after losing to Chaminade (14-4-1, 6-1-1) on their home field, turned the tables to pull within a half-game of the first-place Eagles with six games to play.

Chaminade, which defeated Loyola, 9-5, Wednesday, has four games remaining.

Loyola capitalized on three Chaminade errors to score all its runs in the fifth inning against the Eagles’ Gabe Crecion (1-2).

“This was a much bigger game for us than it was for them,” Loyola Coach Kelly Nicholson said.

Chaminade not only squandered a 1-0 lead on Ryan Hamil’s fourth-inning home run but also a chance to take a commanding lead in the league standings.

Crecion, a hard-throwing senior right-hander, had nine strikeouts, including five in the first two innings. But Crecion struggled at times with his control and made a throwing error after fielding a bunt to contribute to the Eagles’ defensive breakdown.

“I just think we didn’t come out to play today,” Crecion said. “We were lackadaisical.”

A forgettable day for Chaminade was capped when Coach Denny Barrett was ejected before the start of the seventh inning during a discussion with the plate umpire.

“He thought I’d overstepped my bounds,” Barrett said. “There wasn’t any dirty language or anything.”

Nor was there much offensive output for Chaminade, which managed only two hits off senior right-hander Mike Giampaolo (4-1), who worked five innings. Senior Jason Carrigan pitched 1 2/3 innings to get a save.

Aside from Hamil’s leadoff homer in the fourth, Chaminade managed only a second-inning single by designated hitter Brett Reynolds.

“When [Crecion] is out there, we seem to sit back and watch him throw and today it bit us,” Barrett said. “But I still thought we could come back and win this game.”

Loyola ignited a rally when Chris Quiroz reached on an error by first baseman Brian Kaye, and Crecion, attempting to record an out at second, threw wildly into center field after fielding Sean Grady’s sacrifice bunt.

Quiroz scored on a fielder’s choice and Grady scored on a single by Ray Kasper. John Hilvert, aboard on a fielder’s choice, scored from third when Crecion’s pickoff throw to first got past Kaye.