LHS Baseball Falls in First Round of MCT

The Lawrence High School baseball team had some tough luck in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament, falling to a Hopewell squad they had defeated just one day earlier.

On May 3, LHS (7-8) jumped all over Hopewell, winning by a score of 5-1 behind a dominant pitching performance by Dillon O'Brien, who went seven innings, giving up five hits and one run with three strikeouts.

All but one of the LHS starters collected at least one base hit in the game, led by Pat Sweeney, who went 1-for-2 with a double and two RBI. Connor Springsteen and Jess Russo also collected an RBI, while John Turner had two hits and two runs scored. Nick Kagel went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

The following day in tournament action, LHS jumped out to a three run lead, but was unable to finish off Hopewell (10-9), who bounced back with three runs in the third inning while limiting the damage at the plate for LHS.

Turner, Sweeney and Russo each collected two hits in the game, while Kagel went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Tommy Ikeda went 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Kagel had a tough outing on the mound, going 2.1 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with four walks and a strikeout. Jake Miller allowed two runs on six hits over 3.2 innings.

LHS came back and lost a heartbreaker to Princeton (6-12) on Tuesday by a score of 6-5. In that contest, the Cardinals scored five runs in the fifth inning and carried a 5-3 lead into the final inning.

However, Princeton would answer in their final at bats, scoring three runs before holding on for the one-run victory.

Dan Terlecki pitched 5.2 innings giving up two earned runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Russo took the loss, going 1.1 inning giving up three runs on two hits, with a walk.

Sweeney went 1-for-4 with two RBI, while O'Brien went 3-for-3 with a run scored.

The Cardinals will be back in action on Friday at West Windsor-Plainsboro North at 4 p.m.