Calvert Hall upstages No. 1 St. Joe No. 2 Cardinals stifle Teixeira, rip Gaels, 14-5

Calvert Hall stole the show from Mark Teixeira and No. 1 Mount St. Joe.

With a crowd of scouts on hand to watch the switch-hitting third baseman, No. 2 Calvert Hall (7-1) pounded out a 14-5 victory over the host Gaels (6-3) yesterday.

Teixeira, considered one of the top prospects in the Mid-Atlantic area, had his chance to make an impact, however. The senior came to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and the bases loaded, his team down 8-4. But Calvert Hall sophomore reliever Brent Gossman got Teixeira to swing under an outside fastball and lift a harmless fly ball to left.

The Cardinals then piled on six seventh-inning runs to put away the MIAA A Conference contest.

"We haven't been hitting the ball lately," said Calvert Hall coach lTC Joe Binder, whose Cardinals struggled to a 1-1 tie with 1-5 McDonogh that was stopped because of darkness on Friday. "I thought we lost a little confidence with our swinging, but today it was a different story. We swung at good pitches and got great results."

First baseman Mike Wineke led the Cardinals, going 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs. Third baseman Greg Deboy had two doubles and three RBIs.

The Cardinals got seven of their 18 hits in their final at-bat, and every starter had at least one hit. Ten hits came from the first four batters in the order.

"Our pitching was terrible today," said Mount St. Joe coach Dave Norton. "It's tough when you fall behind 8-0. It wasn't in the cards for us today, but I guess it was for the Cards."

Justin Nash started for Calvert Hall, but had trouble getting his curveball over and struggled with his control into the sixth inning. Nash threw 116 pitches, just 57 for strikes. He walked six, hit a batter and gave up four runs on four hits.

Gossman replaced Nash with one out and two on in the sixth. After an error loaded the bases, Gossman walked Vince Volpe to make the score 8-4. Running the count to 3-2, Gossman then struck out St. Joe shortstop Allen Strick, setting the stage for Teixeira.

"I wasn't worried or nervous because I was in control as the pitcher," said Gossman of Teixeira. "I just tried to throw him good pitches and threw him a fastball on the outside corner and got lucky. He got under it and he didn't hit one 700 feet."

St. Joe starter and loser Brian Hartman hurt himself in the first inning by throwing away a sacrifice bunt leading to three runs.

Calvert Hall added a single run in the second, and Nash's second double of the game knocked in a pair in the third. Nash's double came off reliefer Jon Ritt after a double by Damian Michalak chased Hartman.

Wineke followed a one-out double by Deboy in the fourth with a towering shot over the right-field fence to make it 8-0.

For the most part, the Cardinals succeeded in not giving Teixeira a chance to beat them.

Teixeira singled in the first with two outs and then led off two innings. He reached on an error to start the fourth leading to three runs on one hit, a double by Mike Floyd, who also homered for the Gaels' final run in the seventh.

In the fifth, Teixeira led off with a walk but was thrown out trying a delayed steal.

Pub Date: 4/07/98