April 17, 2012

Marist right-hander Mark Peralta retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Marist at Hudson Catholic Baseball Photo Gallery

JERSEY CITY – When Marist's Mark Peralta and Danny Mirabel tried unsuccessfully to give coach Ron Hayward an ice water shower it was one of the few times Peralta missed his intended target on the day.

While his post-game celebration might have been inaccurate, on the mound Peralta was anything but that. The Royal Knights' ace was in complete command as he spun a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts and hit a home run in Marist's 5-0 victory over Hudson Catholic at Cochrane Stadium.

"I was hitting my spots and I felt comfortable the whole time," Peralta said. "I knew I had them."

The senior right-hander put on a clinic in pounding the lower half of the strike zone and getting ahead of the count. Zach Ottobre's single in the first inning would be the last hit Peralta would allow until a Rory Carvajal double with two outs in the seventh.

Peralta struck out three of the first six batters for the Royal Knights (6-3), but only got stronger as the game went along as he retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.

"He pitches. He always pitches," Hayward said. "He doesn't walk a lot. He's not afraid to go after you."

"He wasn't throwing hard, but he was just commanding the zone," said Hudson Catholic coach Alberto Vasquez, hoping it will serve as a teaching moment for his young lineup. "They'll learn to start being more aggressive. They won't get walks (against a pitcher like that)."

Peralta's only trouble came in the third when he served back-to-back walks (his only free passes on the day)  to Matt Falatico and Ottobre. Peralta would escape the jam and protect his team's 2-0 lead by inducing Steven Price into a groundout to shortstop.

"When his changeup's on, when he's keeping the ball down, hitting his spots and he's keeping the hitters off-balanced, you know he's on," said 1B Steve Tsugranes. "He  just brings more energy to the team because every time he brings his 'A' game."

Peralta may have been cruising on the mound, yet it didn't stop him for helping his own cause when he roped a Danny Perez fastball into the leftfield gap for an inside the park homer to lead off the fifth inning. Tsugranes roped a RBI triple and Josh Witherspoon poked a RBI double down the right field line to make it 5-0 and put the game out of reach.

"I like the way (Mark) swings and stays aggressive," said Hayward, who recently moved Peralta into the leadoff spot. "I needed someone in the leadoff spot who's not afraid to attack the first fastball."

Tsugranes was 3-for-4 with two triples and two runs on the day. He led off the second inning with a triple and scored four batters later on an Angel Perez single. Ian Lagares followed with a run-scoring single to give Marist a 2-0 lead.

Perez was a tough-luck losing pitcher for Hudson Catholic (4-5) in a complete game effort. The senior spotted seven hits, a walk and a hit batsman as the soft-tossing righty used a fastball-curve combination to strike out five.

Hudson Catholic 2B Nick Falatico tags out Marist's Tim Rodriguez. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Marist at Hudson Catholic Baseball Photo Gallery