Consecutive home runs by Jason Patton and Matt Hillsinger in the fourth inning and a well-executed pitching plan propelled No. 2 Archbishop Spalding to a 5-3 victory over visiting and No. 12-ranked Cardinal Gibbons in Severn yesterday.
In what was the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference opener for both teams, the successive homers came after Gibbons (8-2, 0-1) had tied the score at 2 in the top half of the fourth.
Patton, the No. 9 hitter, led off the bottom half with his homer, and Hillsinger followed with his own off Gibbons starter and loser Ryan Staton.
Kody Hines doubled in a third run for the Cavaliers (9-2, 1-0) to make it 5-2 after four innings. The three-run cushion gave left-hander Matt Jackson, who pitched five innings of six-hit ball, all he needed.
Jackson gave way to Jeff Kemp and Patton, who threw scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Cavaliers.
"It was good to see because we have not been hitting the baseball well," said Spalding coach Steve Miller, whose team was coming off a nonleague loss to Broadneck, 7-5, on Wednesday.
"We've been getting good pitching and defense. I've been a little worried about the hitting. It hasn't been very good since we came back from Florida. Today we broke out a little bit, and hopefully we can carry it over."
Miller also said it was his plan going into yesterday's game to have Jackson throw five innings and close it out with Patton and Kemp.
"Definitely, my defense helped me out a lot and my two middle guys, Jeff Kemp [shortstop] and Kody Hines [second base and short], were outstanding," said Jackson, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound junior.
"We also had some incredible plays in the outfield that saved me."
Right fielder Steve Brinkley made a diving catch of Blake Thompson's line drive leading off the second, and Patton, whom Miller describes as "a great outfielder," made an over-the-shoulder catch in the fifth that was a la Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series.
Eric Drechsler's drive to center in the top of the fifth ended up being a sacrifice fly and RBI as Patton tracked it and caught the windblown ball over his shoulder as it veered away from him to the left. The defensive gem prevented the Crusaders from having a big inning.
"They're a very good team, and I think them and Calvert Hall are the teams to beat," Gibbons coach Lee Schwarzenberg said. "We're young, but we're going to hang in every game because we've got some hitting this year."
pat.omalley@baltsun.com