Opportunities abounded during Wednesday’s MIAA A baseball clash between top-ranked Archbishop Spalding and No. 2 John Carroll, but while the Cavaliers squandered many of their scoring chances, especially early, the Patriots made the most of theirs, resulting in a 9-6 victory.

Spalding (15-2, 9-2 MIAA A) outhit visiting John Carroll, 11-7, and had excellent chances to score in both the first and second innings, but failed to do so both times and went on to strand eight runners for the game. Cruz Luna and Jack McNally (2-for-3, walk, run) were stranded at second and third in the first inning, while a baserunning error in the second derailed another scoring chance for the Cavaliers.

“Definitely gave away some opportunities early,” Spalding coach Joe Palumbo said. “We didn’t cherish the leadoff bat. Two-out hits win ballgames and we didn’t have those today, but I also go back to our leadoff at-bats in those innings. If they’re a little more productive and make the pitcher work a little bit more, maybe we scratch out some early runs, and we’re playing ahead instead of behind. Those early opportunities came back to haunt us today.”

The same cannot be said for the Patriots, who took advantage of a tough call at first and some timely hitting to open up a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning after going 1-2-3 in each of the first three innings against Cavaliers starter Peyton Mamula. The rally started on a close call at first base with Casey Carpenter appearing to be out as first base as Spalding first baseman Theo Loughlin jumped high for the throw before landing on the bag just before Carpenter reached.

However, the umpire deemed him safe, and two batters later, Dallas Brooks singled up the middle to score Carpenter for a 1-0 lead. Drew Jourdan then belted a three-run home run to right field for the four-run advantage.

“My guys put me in a great situation, and I’m just doing what I can to win,” said Jourdan, who had five RBIs for the game. “We knew going in he [throws] a lot of off-speed, so if we found a fastball, we were going to try and attack.

“It’s a huge win. The boys are resilient, and we know we’ve got a great squad this year.”

Loughlin came right back with a solo homer to right center field to put the Cavaliers on the board in the fourth inning. Braeden Martin then smacked a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning following a pinch hit single by Noah Vasey to trim the lead to 4-3. Spalding had two more runners reach base on a walk by McNally and a single to right field by Loughlin, but Michael Thompson grounded out to Patriots starting pitcher Brooks Mueller to cut the rally short.

“I didn’t have my best stuff today, but I battled through and we beat them,” said Mueller, who struck out five in 6 ⅓ innings of work before giving way to reliever Zach Olszewski. “We’ve got all the momentum now. We’re looking to come back and beating them [Thursday].”

John Carroll (11-5, 6-2 MIAA A) took advantage of an errant flip to first base by Spalding reliever Dillon Stoltzfus on a weak groundball to score the team’s fifth run of the game and then Brycen Altland drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to deep left field for a 6-3 advantage in the sixth.

That lead grew to 7-3 on the next at bat with Miguel Leon coaxing an infield single down the third base line to bring home Jourdan in the top of the sixth inning. Speaking of Jourdan, he padded the lead with a two-run single to right field in the seventh inning for a 9-3 advantage.

“I think this team can play baseball with the best of them,” said Patriots coach Darrion Siler, whose squad dropped a 9-3 decision to the Cavaliers at home Monday and whose squad will return to Spalding on Thursday for the series rubber match. “We’re always in every game, and I believe in these boys and what they are capable of doing. If we play our brand of baseball, we’re going to be in a good spot no matter what.”

Spalding did not go down quietly, rallying for three runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run, pinch-hit home run off the bat of Anthony Badillo and a fielder’s choice groundball to second base by Sam Houchens to cut the deficit to 9-6. A groundout to third by Drew Emrich, however, ended the rally and the contest with runners on first and third.

“They took advantage of their opportunities, and the hitters took advantage of the wind today for sure,” Palumbo said. “They just had a little more of a gritty mindset and scratched out those runs to extend the lead, which obviously you have to credit them for that.”