AUBURN — Will Desmarais hadn’t thrown a pitch in a varsity game in two years — and had never started one on the mound in high school — when he got the starting nod for arguably the biggest game of unbeaten St. Dom’s season against the No. 2 team in the Western C Heal Points, Monmouth.
The Mustangs didn’t give Desmarais much time to settle in. A three-pitch first helped him a little, but then a three-run second put the Saints in a hole.
But Desmarais had an ace up his sleeve. Actually, more like a deuce.
Desmarais’ curve ball kept the Mustangs off-balance the rest of the way, and the Saints, led by Desmarais’ two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, rallied from an early 3-1 deficit to defeat Monmouth, 7-3, in an important MVC matchup on Wednesday.
“I came in in relief in my freshman or sophomore year and just did absolutely atrocious, so I was a little bit nervous the first two innings,” said Desmarais, a senior who took a one-year hiatus to play lacrosse last year. “After that, I settled in pretty good. I’ve been working on (the curve) a lot in the bullpen and getting comfortable throwing it for a first-pitch strike.”
Desmarais threw a lot of strikes overall, not just on the first pitch. Of his 94 pitches, 69 went for strikes. He allowed four hits, fanned eight, walked one and hit a batter.
“We pulled a guy out of retirement today who hadn’t pitched in three years,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “We threw a bullpen (session) on Saturday for the first time and I introduced him to the cutter (fastball), and we worked on that a little bit and the two-seamer (fastball), but ultimately the hammer was there today.”
“We just didn’t make adjustments to the off-speed,” Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi said. “Will did a great job. He kept us off-balance, made us hit curve balls and we just didn’t hit them. We didn’t stay disciplined enough to stay back, keep our hands back and drive the ball.”
After his 1-2-3 first, Desmarais gave himself a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the frame with a sacrifice fly to score Zak Johnson (2-for-3, two runs, two RBIs). But an error in the second opened the door for Monmouth’s only runs, which came home on Devin West’s RBI single, Phil Rowe’s RBI triple and a wild pitch.
St. Dom’s (8-0) scored single runs in the second and third to tie it on Mike Richard’s run-scoring single and Mitch Lorenz’s sacrifice fly.
Desmarais scored the winning run after reaching on a fielder’s choice with one out. Jimmy Theriault’s hit-and-run single got him to third, and he scored on Lorenz’s grounder to second.
Monmouth (6-2) otherwise squelched the Saints’ running game and kept the defensive mistakes to a minimum, but a misplay at shortstop on what looked to be a double-play ball cost them in the sixth. The error set up Johnson’s two-run double and Desmarais’ RBI single to give the latter more than enough insurance when he returned to the mound.
“That’s a big win for us,” Blackman said. “We’ve faced the tough ones. We’ve got Spruce (Mountain) on Saturday, which will be another test.”
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- St. Dom’s Mitchell Lorenz reaches out to tag Monmouth’s D.J. McHugh on his way to first base during their game Wednesday in Auburn. The two collided and McHughs was declared out. The Saints won 7-3.
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- St. Dom’s Raymond Mosca slides safely into third past Monmouth’s Josh Fournier during their game Wednesday in Auburn.
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- Monmouth’s Kyle Fletcher makes a frantic attempt to get to first, guarded by St. Dom’s Mitchell Lorenz, before the ball during the third out, and game ender, in the seventh inning Wednesday in Auburn. The Saints won 7-3.
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- St. Dom’s pitcher William Desmarais scrambles back to first past Monmouth’s Alex Curtis in an attempted pick-off during their game in Auburn. Desmaris was safe and the Saints topped the Mustangs 7-3.
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