Jesuit beat St. Aug, 2-0, last Friday, but against their foes this week, the Jays will have to unleash their bats.

Bulletin (Tuesday, April 14, 10:35 a.m.): No Baseball Tonight! Weather has postponed Tuesday night’s game between Jesuit and Rummel at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium. A date and time for a makeup game will be determined later.

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This is one of those pivotal weeks for the Blue Jay baseball team.

Coming off a 2-0 win over St. Augustine last Friday evening — a seven inning game that lasted a mere 75 minutes and packed about as much excitement as form 1040 — the Blue Jays face the two teams that beat them in round one: Archbishop Rummel on Tuesday (April 14) and Holy Cross on Friday (April 17).

Jesuit’s overall record is a respectable 19-7; in district play, the Jays are 4-2. Just over two weeks ago, the Raiders pulled out a 6-5 win over the Jays in extra innings at John Ryan Stadium. Then on April 4, Holy Cross took full advantage of Jesuit’s pitching problems that day and beat the Jays, 8-6, at the Tigers’ lair off Paris Avenue.

Brandon Briuglio had two singles and he stole second base against the Purple Knights.

The Jays are looking to even the score against both rivals in round two. Weather permitting, the Jays play the Raiders Tuesday night at Kirsch-Rooney with first pitch at 7.

“Every game is big, but this week is looming to be very big,” said Coach Joey Latino following his team’s win over the Purple Knights at John Ryan Stadium. “We got Rummel on Tuesday and Holy Cross on Friday. We need to put some more work in, obviously, especially on the offensive end. We just have to stay process-oriented and get our guys back in the batting cage and back on the field to work on some of the offensive issues we had against St. Aug.”

Against the Purple Knights, the Jays mustered a mere five hits, two of which were singles off Brandon Briuglio’s bat. Coach Latino gives credit to St. Augustine’s pitcher for silencing the “pings” of Jesuit’s bats.

“He changed speeds and kept us off balance the entire game,” said Coach Latino. “Thank goodness Sean (Bretz) had the kind of day he had.”

Bretz, a junior with a 4-1 record, threw a complete game shutout for the Jays against the Purple Knights. He allowed only three hits, no walks, and he struck out 11 batters.

“Sean’s got really good stuff,” said Coach Latino. “It’s never been a question of his pitches, it’s just been a question of him maturing a little bit. He’s had a couple of shaky starts, but he responded well against St. Aug, and stuck to the game plan. We were going to be predominantly fast balls, locating them and moving them in and out. We would use his breaking ball to keep them honest and that’s exactly what he did.”

The Jesuit-Holy Cross rematch takes place Friday at John Ryan Stadium. First pitch is 7 p.m.

Read More…

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