Marko Boricich tosses gem, shuts down Brother Rice

Marko Boricich is regarded as the ace of Mount Carmel’s talented pitching staff.

The senior left-hander pitched like it on Saturday against Brother Rice.

Boricich tossed a two-hit shutout and struck out 10 to lead host Mount Carmel to a 2-0 win over Brother Rice in a Catholic League Blue battle.

“That was all heart,” said Mount Carmel coach Brian Hurry of Boricich’s effort. “What a gutsy performance. He made some tough pitches in tough spots.”

To be sure, Boricich found himself in some jams. Most notably in the first, second and seventh innings.

Each time, however, he was able to escape without any damage being done, stranding seven runners in the process.

The Crusaders (17-3, 6-1) left two runners on in the first, the bases loaded in the second and runners on second and third in the seventh.

“There was a nice crosswind today and my changeup was working well,” said Boricich, a Penn State recruit. “I was just thinking to get one guy at a time. I would take deep breaths and slow my game down.”

The Caravan (16-2, 7-0) scratched home runs in the second and third innings off Brother Rice right-hander Brian Musielak. A.J. Lewis led off the second with a single and was sacrificed to second base on a bunt by Greg Ploszaj. A two-out error by the Caravan allowed Lewis to score for a 1-0 advantage.

Dave Dobrinich extended the lead to 2-0 in the third with one swing of the bat. The senior hammered a 2-0 fastball over the right field fence and admitted to taking greater satisfaction on his round-tripper. He and Musielak were teammates over the summer.

“We talked a little bit last night (Friday),” Dobrinich said. “I said I was going to get a hit and he said how he was going to strike me out. It was my day today.”

Boricich finished strong — six of his final seven outs were strikeouts.

“Marko pitched his tail off,” Brother Rice coach John McCarthy said. “He threw his breaking ball for a strike. We battled as hard as we could.”

Mike Massey and Kevin Biondic recorded the only hits off Boricich.

Musielak allowed just four hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out one.

“Brian was great,” McCarthy said. “He gave us a chance to win today. We’re going to learn from this and get better.”