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April 23, 2016Powered by the bat of sophomore Elijah Paulino, and the arm of Senior PJ Connaire, the Irish evened their conference record at 3-3, defeating Cathedral Prep, 5-3, on Friday at Welty Field.
With one out and the bases loaded in the first inning, the lefty-swining Paulino powered a deep drive to the opposite field, clearing the bases with a grand slam. Staked to a four-run lead, PJ Connaire relied on guts and guile to keep a free swinging Cathedral team off balance. Cathedral plated a run in the top of the fourth, but the Irish got the run back in the bottom half of the inning. With Ryan Connaire on first, and first-inning hero Paulino on the third, the Irish excecuted a double steal, with Paulino racing home just ahead of the return throw from Cathedral's short stop. In the top of the sixth, Cathedral's strung together three hits to score two runs, cutting the lead to 5-3. Connaire, however, bore down, and with the go-ahead run standing at home plate, struck out Cathedral's cleanup batter to escape the jam.
Senior Nicholas D'Imperio came on for the Irish in the seventh inning, to pick up his second save of the season, setting Cathedral down in order to seal the victory.
The Irish (3-3) next face LaSalle Academy on Monday afternoon at 4:00 pm at Welty Field.