Rob Maguire couldn’t help but look ahead.
The Xavier right-hander was sitting in the dugout as this eam appeared in total control of No. 4 Stepinac and poised for a berth in the CHSAA Class A intersectional semifinals. Waiting there would be St. Joseph by the Sea and their ace Nick Pavia, Maguire’s friend and Richmond County summer ball teammates. Knights coach Rich Duffell said his ace was telling his teammates, ‘It’s going to be a classic battle Sunday.”
Then, Maguire had to make sure it would still happen.
He came on in relief, for just the second time this year, with the bases loaded and no one out in the bottom of the seventh and the Knights up five. Maguire saw a run cross the plate, but got three straight outs to seal No. 8 Xavier’s 10-6 win over No. 4 Stepinac at Fordham University’s Houlihan Park Thursday night.
“I was actually really excited for that,” Maguire said of coming on to close. “It just gets everybody’s momentum up. My confidence goes up because I want to do my best.”
That’s what he feels he will need to be when the Knights (16-6) meet the second-seeded Vikings at St. John’s University Sunday in the their first winner’s bracket semifinal appearance in at least 10 years. Maguire has yet to start a game in the intersectional round after throwing 120 pitches in a qualifying win over Fordham Prep Saturday, but he was schedule for a bullpen Thursday. He and Pavia have never squared off.
“I hope I have my stuff that day,” Maguire said. “If I don’t, I don’t know what is going to happen.”
What nearly happened was another Stepinac comeback against the Knights, who gained control of the game with a wild seven-run fourth inning. The Crusaders (14-8) nearly rallied from 11 runs down to get within two in the regular season and this time around tried to erase an eight-run deficit.
Xavier scored two runs on balks charged to Stepinac starter Dan Difilippo to start the top of the fourth. Stephen Vorvolakos kept it going by beating out a potential inning-ending double play ball to allow the third run to score. Dan D’Angelo came home from third on a throw to second on a steal and Matt Drucker provided a two-run double down the left field line. Starting pitcher James McCool made it 7-1 with an RBI single of his own.
“[The balks] gave us a couple of runs,” Drucker said. “We just feed off it, kept hitting, kept scrapping, getting extra bases…It’s all the little things. We don’t have a home run hitter.”
Stepinac chased McCool with a four-run bottom of the fifth. It got RBI hits from Donoto Signore and Mike Annunziata, but also got runs on a throw to second that allowed the runner to score from third and a passed ball. Sean Meekins replaced McCool with two outs and two on and struck out Anthony Gallo to prevent any further damage.
“I’m saying here we go again,” Duffell said.
It was the last time Stepinac would seriously threaten until the seventh where the Sacred Heart-bound Maguire made sure that was all it was. The win continues an amazing run by the Knights that included a win over top-seeded Xaverian Wednesday night. It will also likely give Maguire the matchup he is so looking forward to against Pavia, who beat Iona Prep on Wednesday.
“Oh he is going to be ready,” Duffell said. “This is going to be the classic battle. Ace against ace.”
