Lancers shut out by Mitty ace Lancers shut out by Mitty ace (April 15, 2005)

Defense of league title off to a rocky start

By Scott Campbell

As is so often the case in a showdown between baseball titans, St. Francis' game against Archbishop Mitty came down to pitching. Thanks to the masterful performance by their ace, Jason Codiroli, the host Monarchs prevailed 4-0 in the game between the West Catholic Athletic League archrivals.

Nearly a dozen major-league scouts were on hand to observe not only the battle on the hill between Codiroli and Lancers senior Jared Lansford, but also the vaunted hitters of both schools. Unfortunately for St. Francis, the scouts will have to return as its offense was completely smothered, notching only two hits on the afternoon.

Codiroli, who has yet to allow an earned run this season, retired the first 15 Lancers he faced en route to a complete-game shutout. The Cal State-Fullerton signee needed just 63 pitches, allowing only one St. Francis hitter to even reach a full count against him.

"The main thing was to just get ahead (in the count), because once you get ahead you can always go with the off-speed stuff or come back with the hard stuff," said Codiroli, who recorded six strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

Meanwhile, despite being clocked throwing as fast as 94 miles per hour, Lansford (4-3) immediately ran into trouble.

After a hit batsman and a double put St. Francis in a first-inning jam, Monarchs catcher Jason Haniger gave his team a 1-0 lead with an RBI groundout to second base. Lancers catcher Chris Coleman helped Lansford avoid a big inning by gunning down Mitty baserunner Steve Cook, who ventured too far off third base.

The usually reliable St. Francis defense had a third-inning hiccup that proved costly. In trying to track down a double by Mitty shortstop John Shaffer, Lancers centerfielder Chris Viegas twice fumbled the ball and saw Shaffer take third base on the error.

Cook made St. Francis pay, clubbing Lansford's next pitch for a sacrifice fly to drive in Shaffer and push the Monarchs lead to 2-0.

The Lancers (14-4, 2-2 WCAL) fell further behind in the fourth when a passed ball allowed Mitty leftfielder Kevin Becker to score.

"In close ballgames, in high-profile situations, one mistake is magnified," said St. Francis coach Chris Volta. "We make two mistakes and it leads to two runs."

With Codiroli setting down all challengers, the Lancers knew they were in for an uphill struggle.

"He was just hitting all of his spots, changing his speeds and just making good pitches to us," said St. Francis shortstop Brady Fuerst of Codiroli.

Monarchs centerfielder Brian Dressman turned in a standout defensive play in the fourth inning that kept the shutout in order, denying Lansford a two-out home run by leaping above the wall to snare the ball.

"To hit a ball that hard and have it be robbed ... I bet he was as happy as I was mad at that," said Lansford, who has signed a letter-of-intent to play for Santa Clara University next year.

Mitty (14-3, 2-2 WCAL) scored its final run in the fifth, when Haniger crushed Lansford's two-out offering over the leftfield fence. Lansford would go on to complete the game, striking out six while allowing seven hits, but his counterpart got the better of him in this premier pitching duel.

Codiroli (7-1) kept his perfect game intact until Lancers first baseman Matt Zipse blooped a one-out single into leftfield in the sixth inning.

"I'm just lucky it dropped in," said Zipse. "Just putting the bat on the ball and putting the ball in play is an accomplishment against a pitcher like that."

St. Francis managed just one hit the rest of the way, a single by Matt Long to start the seventh inning. But the Monarchs again showed their defensive prowess, doubling Long off first base after a Fuerst flyout to rightfield.

St. Francis returns to action with a visit to St. Ignatius on Apr. 15. @email:E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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