Depth and this duo lead Cathedral Prep baseball team to season sweep of rival McDowell
The injuries started for the Cathedral Prep baseball team before the season even started this spring.
Wake Forest recruit Luke Costello suffered a severe injury and hasn’t played a game this year. Mercyhurst recruit Joey Spano played in just four games before his injury cost him the past 16 games.
The Ramblers had more players out Thursday with just two seniors and four sophomores in the lineup.
Prep’s depth and dynamic duo of Jason Fultz and Andrew Costello dominated throughout the game as the Ramblers completed a season sweep of rival McDowell with an 8-1 win at UPMC Park.
“We haven’t played our best baseball yet, but we’re getting hot,” said sophomore Andrew Costello. “We have injuries but we did what we had to do and they have a good squad over there.”
Costello, a Wake Forest recruit, was behind the plate as Fultz, a Clemson recruit, struck out eight and allowed just four hits in five shutout innings.
“It’s awesome and unbelievable. He’s a great player,” Costello said. “I’m super proud of him and proud of the boys. We have a brotherhood and when someone is down with an injury it’s next man up.”
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McDowell miscue opens door for Prep
Fultz, a junior, and Mercyhurst recruit Nick Hamilton were in a pitching duel the first two innings as both pitchers worked out of trouble.
One McDowell mistake in the third inning, however, opened the door for the Ramblers.
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With two outs and one runner on, Costello’s groundball was thrown away. Fultz followed with an RBI single to give Prep a 2-0 lead.
After three straight walks made it 3-0, Prep scored on a wild pitch and Davin Friedman ripped a two-run single to complete a six-run rally.
The Ramblers added two more runs in the fourth inning as Fultz tripled in a run and scored on the play on an errant throw to third.
“Lots of games are lost, not won, and we took advantage of miscues and ran the bases extremely aggressively,” said Prep coach Josh Constable. “We have a lot of thunder in this lineup as far as power and contact.”
The eight runs were more than enough for Fultz who was on the same page with Costello throughout the game.
“I was able to keep them off-balance most of the game,” Fultz said. “The first time I saw them I went through them easily and went heavy on off-speed. This time was tougher because they definitely worked on what they saw from me last time. I went more fastballs this time and they couldn’t catch up.”
“Andrew and Jason are really special players and great student-athletes with a lot of energy and a high talent level,” Constable said. “They are probably two of the best players in the state on one team and they are tremendous young men and great teammates.”
Another region crown
Prep (17-3) finished 14-0 in Region 5 to clinch its 11th region title, while McDowell (13-7) finished in second place at 11-3. The Ramblers enter the District 10 Class 4A playoffs next week, while the Trojans take on Erie High for the D-10 Class 6A championship.
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Cathedral Prep baseball overcomes injuries to sweep rival McDowell
