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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
Nick Meola’s future with Xaverian’s top team was in jeopardy after a hitless fall season had Clippers coach Frank Del George considering leaving the sophomore on the junior varsity.
The coach eventually reconsidered, and now one of his first decisions regarding the spring season is proving to be his best.
Meola connected for two two-run homers to center field in consecutive at bats to power Xaverian to a clinching 8–3 win over visiting Archbishop Molloy in Catholic High School League baseball on Tuesday afternoon. The performance showed Meola’s growing maturity and confidence.
“During the fall you could see he was a little nervous playing up with some older kids,” junior pitcher Anthony Sigismondi said. “Now he’s let his talent speak for itself.”
Meola, now the clean up hitter, said there were times where he was down on himself, but he used that as motivation for the work he did in the weight room and the cage in the winter to get himself ready. He led the team in hitting since.
“I believed in myself,” said Meola, who had a piece of victory cake smeared on his face from behind by a teammate after the game.
The first homer capped a four-run third inning that was kept alive by two Molloy errors. It gave Xaverian a 4–1 lead against Stanners starter Chris Piteo. Molloy got a two-run blast from Daniel Gaitan. That helped chase Clippers starter Dom Napoli from the game and pulled Molloy within 4–3 in the top of the fourth.
Xaverian (15–2) scored three more times off reliever Donovan Armas in the bottom half of the frame to extend its lead to 7–3 thanks to a Louis DeAngelis RBI single and Meola’s second homer.
“I wasn’t trying to hit another one,” Meola said. “I was just trying to stay down on it, hit a line drive and it happened.”
Sigismondi was also impressive in relief. He did not allow a hit in four innings of work after Molloy (13–4) scored three times on 10 hits against Napoli. Sigismondi kept the Stanners off balance by mixing his three pitches well, giving Xaverian a chance to break the game open.
“I had all three working,” he said. “I was able to spot them.”
The win is Xaverian’s seventh straight since losing to Molloy back on April 24. It earns them a spot in league’s championship tournament, after facing the other division winners to determined its seed in the top four. Like Meola, it took Xaverian some time after a slow start to come around.
“We knew they had the potential for being really good,” Del George said. “It’s starting to click a little bit now.”
Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.