Spartans defeat St. Anthony for first time in 7 years

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Peter Blanchfield

Senior pitcher Emerson Egly had a dominant performance Thursday.

Peter Blanchfield, Rubiconline Editor

The baseball season is still young, but Saint Paul Academy and Summit School’s team has already scored a major victory. SPA plays St. Anthony every year, but this is the first time in seven years that the Spartans have come out of the game with a victory.

St. Anthony jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning. It seemed like this game may be another in a long line of losses by SPA to St. Anthony. But after giving up that first run, senior pitcher Emerson Egly buckled down and started putting batters down.

The second and third innings both went quickly behind great pitching and solid defense by both teams.

In the fourth inning the Spartans got in trouble with some early runners, but an impressive double play put an end to the threat.

The bottom of the fourth is where the Spartans got their runs on the board, starting with a huge RBI triple by senior Riley Bowman, followed quickly by a double by Junior Ryan Kuntz scoring Bowman from third. After this the St. Anthony catcher threw an errant throw trying to pick off Kuntz while he was stealing, Kuntz then rounded third and ran to home with ease, putting the Spartans up 3-1.

In the top of the fifth, St. Anthony started off the inning with a big double. They looked primed to score, but two great defensive plays by SPA got them out of the inning. SPA was not able to score a run.

The Spartans are hoping that this big early season victory will help propel them to a great year.