Guerrier notches 100th K as HHS wins seventh-straight

HAMMONTON—Senior Lukas Guerrier struck out five, including the 100th punch-out of his career, helping Hammonton High School’s baseball team post its seventh consecutive win on April 20, an 8-5 victory against Holy Spirit.

Guerrier went four strong innings to earn the win, allowing five unearned runs on just four hits, while walking a pair. He tipped his cap to the crowd after recording the 100th strikeout of his high school career.

Ryan Beebe finished the game on the mound, throwing three shutout innings with four strikeouts.

It was the latest strong outing for Hammonton’s pitching staff, which has been a lynchpin of the team’s success so far this season.

“Pitching has been huge plus for us. We have a lot of depth and a lot of strong arms and they’re all throwing well and keeping us in games,” Hammonton coach Gregg Silvesti said.

“Our lineup is young and we don’t always know what we’re going to get as far as runs, so it’s nice to know that every day we can match a strong pitcher against anyone we play,” Silvesti said.

Hammonton only had six hits against Holy Spirit, but the Blue Devils made the most of them. The Devils drew seven walks in the game and were able to produce eight runs.

Kole Bagnell led the offense, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Jaxon Miller and Frank Sacco also drove in runs, and Landon Haines added two RBI.

The victory capped a week that saw Hammonton take two games each from division rivals ACIT and Absegami.

The week began with a pair of games against ACIT. Playing at ACIT on April 15, Hammonton broke open a 3-0 game with a five-run fourth inning rally and went on to win 10-0.

Guerrier went the distance in that one, tossing a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and one walk.

At the plate, Bagnell had three hits and three RBI, Haines added three singles, two runs batted in and scored twice and Brayden Markart drove in a pair.

The rematch against ACIT on April 16 at Hammonton was much closer, as the Blue Devils scored twice in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie and held on for a 3-2 victory.

Jaiden Franchetti went six innings for the win, striking out eight and Sacco closed it out striking out the side in the seventh.

Haines drove in two runs for the Blue Devils.

Following a day off, Hammonton was back in action on April 18, winning another close matchup against Absegami, 2-1 as Sacco delivered a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Sacco had two hits in the game, while Miller went 2-for-4 with a run.

Beebe earned the win in relief of Markart, who allowed just one run on one hit in 6.2 innings of work, striking out 10 in the no decision.

On April 19, Hammonton hammered out 12 hits in a 9-3 win at Absegami. Jamison McNally was the winning pitcher, striking out eight.

Markart drove in three runs, Miller had two hits, including a double, and Jonathan Calderone went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Earlier this week, Hammonton hosted rival St. Joseph but that game ended too late for this edition. On April 25, the Devils play at Oakcrest at 4 p.m.