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Sat, Jun 09, 2018 01:00 PM @ B.C. High

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Final
Central Catholic	0	0	0	1	2	0	4	0	0	7
B.C. High	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	5

Keegan, Lucier carry Central to Super 8 semifinal

Saturday, June, 09 By Kyle Gaudette

BROCKTON - Finally, after all of these years, the age old question has finally been answered: Is Noah Lucier afraid of pressure, or is pressure afraid of Noah Lucier?

The answer: It's pressure that should be afraid.

That, at least, is what Lucier showed in Central's 7-5 win over top-seeded BC High in the Super 8 winner's bracket Saturday afternoon at Campanelli Stadium.

The senior cranked a game-tying double in the third and then another two-run double in the seventh to pad Central's lead, then the righty pitched the final three innings to get the nine-out save for the Raiders (17-5).

"I love the pressure," said Lucier. "I love when the spotlight is on me. I love when just everything is revolving around me and the ball is in my hand. "I just like playing with the, I wouldn't call it pressure, but, that's when I feel like I'm playing my best game: When I'm under the spotlight."

Central, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, will play No. 7 Franklin in the Super 8 winner's bracket semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. from Campanelli.

The winner of that will earn a spot in the tournament's title game.

"We're feeling very confident," said Lucier. "Our lineup is finally hitting well and it feels great. We're just pounding baseballs right now."

"Pounding baseballs" would be a tame way to describe what Dom Keegan did to a poor baseball Saturday.

In the top of the seventh, in a 3-3 game, Keegan stepped to the plate and on an 0-2 count murdered a pitch that sailed well over the 403-foot fence in dead center field. His blast put the Raiders up for good, as the slugging catcher and Vanderbilt-commit finished the day 4 for 5 at the dish.

"I've never seen him hit one that far," said Lucier. "That was absolutely crushed."

Starter Sean Thompson went 3.1 innings and allowed three earned runs (with 7 Ks). Aidan Abernathy, one of the stars of Central's opening round win over Mansfield Wednesday, pitched 2.2 innings before his pitch count from the past two outings ended his day.

But Lucier was more than up to the task to handle the final three innings. The one run he allowed was unearned, and, with runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth, he got the final batter to fly out to end the game.

"He's your Dr. Pepper Player of the Game," said Central coach Marc Pelletier. "He was unbelievable."

And at the plate, Lucier's two-out double to right scored Steve Hajjar to tie the game at 3-3 in the third. Then in the seventh, he crushed another double down the left field line to score two and make it a 7-3 game.

"I feel very good," said Lucier. "At the beginning of the year I was struggling at the plate. But since then I've been trying to hit the other way, and since I've been working the other way I've been finding holes and getting base hits."

With a total of 15 runs scored through their first two games, Central and Franklin are tied for the most scored in the tournament.

"We just need to keep hitting baseballs, keep playing defense and keep throwing strikes," said Lucier. "Simple as that."

 

Hajjar scratched from start

Central Catholic ace Steve Hajjar was scheduled to start Saturday, but was scratched.

The senior last pitched in the Raiders' MVC Large-clinching win over Andover last Saturday (June 2), but did not feel well enough to tow the mound yesterday.

"He just wasn't ready," said Central coach Marc Pelletier. "You know, there is an awful lot of investment. And, you know when a kid's not 100 percent, maybe in the old days you say ‘Suck it up and put some ice on it,' but not in this case. He wasn't ready to pitch."

Hajjar did DH on Saturday and went 1 for 4. The Michigan recruit has a 3-2 record with a team-best 0.34 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 41 innings this spring.

His pitching status for the remainder of the tournament is unknown.

"He didn't come back after the Andover game as fast as we had thought," said Pelletier. "So I defer to him."

 

Super 8 Semifinal

Who: No. 4 Central Catholic (17-5) vs. No. 7 Franklin (19-5)

When: Wednesday, June 13

Where: Brockton's Campanelli Stadium

First pitch: 7 p.m.

Fast fact: Franklin is the lowest seed to appear in the winner's bracket Super 8 semifinal in the tournament's five-year history.

 

Central Catholic 7, B.C. High 5

Super 8 winner's bracket

CENTRAL CATHOLIC (7): Joe Sanchez cf 5-0-0, Jake Delaney 2b 6-0-0, Dom Keegan c 5-2-4, Steve Hajjar dh 4-1-1, Michael Borrelli 1b 5-0-0, Noah Jankowski pr 0-1-0, Mike Pierro rf 4-1-1, Noah Lucier ss/p 4-1-2, Dante Pistone ss 0-0-0, Sean Thompson p/lf 3-1-1, Mike LeFebre 3b 4-0-1, Patrick Casserly ph 1-0-1, Ian Ferris lf 0-0-0, Aidan Abernathy p 0-0-0. Totals 41-7-11

BC High (5): Bobby DeMeo ss 4-1-0, Marty McCormack 3b 5-1-2, Matt Sullivan rf 4-0-1, Mike Vasil 1b 5-1-2, Pat Roche 2b 4-1-1, David Driscoll c 3-0-0, Connor Flavin lf 4-0-1, Sean O'Connell dh/p 5-0-2, Luke Murphy cf 4-1-0, Tim Albert p 0-0-0. Totals 38-5-9

RBI: CCHS - Lucier 3, Casserly, Pierro, Keegan; BC HIGH - McCormack, Vasil, Flavin, O'Connell

WP: Abernathy; LP: Albert; S: Lucier

Central Catholic (17-5):     000 120 400 - 7

B.C. High (16-6):     002 100 101 - 5