Vinny Messana
PBR-NY Contributor
@axcessbaseball

Kellenberg 6, St. Dominic 1

The CHSAA rivalry of St. Dominic and Kellenberg rarely disappoints. The two teams have a rich tradition of winning and generating high-end talent.

Today was no different as the teams squared off in a rubber-match, as the reigning Catholic League champs sent their ace, Chris Cappas, to the bump in front of a handful of MLB scouts against freshman Carlos Hidalgo.

The bats of Kellenberg struggled for the first few innings against Hidalgo. Fortunately, they had Cappas on his game able to throw up zeros while the offense figured it out.

"We really put it together as a team," said the Pittsburgh-commit Cappas. "The whole lineup, front-to-back-is just hitting really well right now so it's working out for us," he added.

Jack Delaney got them on the board in the third inning with an RBI double to score Terrance Murray. The Bayhawks tied it up in the fourth on an RBI single by Kevin Duffy, but the Firebirds responded back with a three-run fifth inning thanks to a fielder's choice and a two-run single to left field by Cappas.

The flamethrowing LHP fanned 10 batters over five innings while allowing one ER. He walked three and allowed five hits, but danced around trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning with a clutch strikeout on his 107th and final pitch of the afternoon to preserve the 4-1.

Cappas delivers another strike on his way to 10 punchouts on the day.

They added two more runs in the sixth inning on another RBI hit by Delaney to increase the lead to 6-1.

Cappas gave way to Mike Laskowski, who pitched the final two innings to put a stamp on the victory which improved the reigning champs to 7-2 on the season. He stated that he felt great today and he was confident in his defense behind them.

Hidalgo was very impressive, the young right-handed pitcher was throwing strikes with both his fastball and 12-6 curveball with smooth mechanics.

It was a big series victory for the Firebirds, they will have another challenge next week against St. John the Baptist.