St. Mark's sharp in baseball opener

St. Mark’s pitcher Andrew Reich (No. 6) celebrates with teammates after throwing a no-hitter in St. Mark’s 12-0 win over Hodgson at St. Mark’s High School on Wednesday afternoon.

St. Mark’s Andrew Reich drives a ball to center field in St. Mark’s 12-0 win over Hodgson at St. Mark’s High School on Wednesday afternoon.

St. Mark’s Christopher Ludman slides safely into home as Hodgson pitcher Daniel Brown tries to tag him out in a cloud of dust in St. Mark’s 12-0 win over Hodgson at St. Mark’s High School on Wednesday afternoon.

St. Mark’s pitcher Andrew Reich delivers a pitch in St. Mark’s 12-0 win over Hodgson at St. Mark’s High School on Wednesday afternoon. Reich pitched a no-hitter over a five-inning complete game.

Hodgson’s Jonathan Megginson tags St. Mark’s Matthew Theodorakis out at third base in St. Mark’s 12-0 win over Hodgson at St. Mark’s High School on Wednesday afternoon.

St. Mark’s Christopher Ludman (No. 20) celebrates with teammates after scoring a run in St. Mark’s 12-0 win over Hodgson at St. Mark’s High School on Wednesday afternoon.

MILLTOWN – The only thing that could have made St. Mark’s baseball opener any better was a couple more innings.

But it’s hard to complain if you can put away a perennially solid Hodgson team early. The third-ranked Spartans came flying out of the gate at home Wednesday, dominating the Silver Eagles 12-0 in a game shortened by the mercy rule.

Senior left-hander Andrew Reich pitched five no-hit innings and drove in four runs as St. Mark’s pounded out 11 hits.

“We liked what we saw today,” Spartans coach Matt Smith said. “It was a good start to the season. Andrew pitched a great game, threw a no-hitter, and I think 80 percent of our at-bats were quality at-bats. It was a good day.”

Reich retired the first 10 Silver Eagles before issuing a walk with one out in the fourth. A double play ball negated that, and Hodgson’s only other baserunner came on a fifth-inning error.

“My fastball was hitting my spots,” said Reich, who struck out seven. “I was throwing strikes, wasn’t trying to overpower anyone. My curveball was looking pretty good, got a couple of guys out on that, but it was mostly my fastball.”

The Silver Eagles (0-2) have racked up a 138-42 record while reaching the state tournament in each of the last nine seasons. But Hodgson had to go deeper into its pitching after opening with a 7-5 loss to top-ranked Appoquinimink on Tuesday, and St. Mark’s came out hitting from the start.

Tyler Kaczmarczyk led off the Spartans first with a double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Reich’s sacrifice fly. Brian Gilardi walked, scooted to second on a single by Matt Theodorakis and scored on Sean Gilardi’s single. Then Thomas Gibb plated Sean Gilardi with another single to make it 3-0.

St. Mark’s got three more runs in the second, as Brian Gilardi and Theodorakis popped RBI singles and Reich drove in another with his second sac fly.

“I just tried to do my job. I got the runs in,” Reich said. “I stroked the ball well, hit the ball hard.”

The Spartans put it away in the third, sending 12 men to the plate in a six-run inning. Reich’s two-run single was the key blow, and a couple of errors by the Silver Eagles added fuel to the fire.

“I think even the outs we hit were hard-hit balls,” Smith said. “The balls we hit to the outfield were stung, hit right on the nose but right at people. Overall, it was a great effort by everybody.”

Theodorakis went 3 for 3 and Gibb added two hits for the Spartans, who got 13 players into the game. St. Mark’s will get in a little more practice before playing three games during spring break — at Caesar Rodney on March 30, at home against St. Elizabeth the next day and at home vs. Indian River on April 2.

Like all of Delaware’s spring sports teams, the Spartans have benefited from mild, relatively dry preseason weather.

“It’s totally different from last year, when I think we didn’t get outside until March 20,” Smith said. “This year, we’ve been out almost every single day, which is great. It beats being in the gym, and we have more room out here.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.