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Beverly mound duo combines for one-hitter

Beverly baseball coach Dave Wilbur was counting on a pair of his senior pitchers to get the Panthers off on the right foot yesterday afternoon. He had no idea, however, that Jack Leathersich and Nick Colanto would completely shut down St. Mary's of Lynn in the season opener.

Leathersich and Colanto combined to spin a one-hit gem as the Panthers rolled to 3-1 victory at Fraser Field.

Leathersich picked up the win by firing five strong innings. The only hit he allowed was a bunt single in the third inning, and he struck out seven with two walks. Colanto earned the save with one strikeout and one walk in two scoreless innings.

"It was a pitcher's day. It was cold over there, but our pitchers were aggressive. They got ahead in the count and we made all the plays behind them," Wilbur said. "It was a solid team win and those two stepped up. We did a lot of good things today. We played errorless ball, got solid pitching, and hit the ball pretty well."

Leathersich went 2 for 4 to pace the offense, while Chris Freni and Paul Drinkwater each had one hit and one RBI. Brian Skerry, Sam Cohen, Peter Kallas, and Connor Walsh also hit safely for the Panthers.