Chaminade's John Carroll delivers to the plate during the CHSAA...

Chaminade's John Carroll delivers to the plate during the CHSAA semifinal playoff baseball game against St. Dominic at Farmingdale State on Sunday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff

Some pitchers don’t think about it, but John Carroll did. A lot.

The Chaminade lefthander tossed 6 1/3 no-hit innings to lead the second-seeded Flyers to a 1-0 victory over No. 3 St. Dominic in a CHSAA playoff matchup at Farmingdale State College on Sunday. Chaminade coach Michael Pienkos tasked righthander James D’Alessandro with the final two outs. D’Alessandro retired the final two St. Dominic batters on 10 pitches to complete the combined no-hitter.

“There’s a lot of pressure to succeed, but you have to stay confident out there and trust yourself,” D’Alessandro said. “I have a great team behind me that I trust.”

Carroll allowed two walks and struck out four. CHSAA rules prohibited him from starting a new at-bat, having already thrown 105 pitches.

“I was striving for perfection,” Carroll said. “I have some great fielders behind me. I was just hoping to get weak contact and it worked out pretty well.”

Evan Baschnagel scored the lone run on an errant throw to first base in the fourth inning for the Flyers (13-5), who will play No. 5 Holy Trinity in the next round at Farmingdale State on Monday at 4 p.m.

Sunday’s pitching plan against St. Dominic (13-6) was the same as every Chaminade game this season. Pienkos said the Flyers typically prepare four to five pitchers each game, hoping the starter can get through the lineup once.

Once the pitcher gets in trouble, Pienkos goes to the bullpen.

“It’s been effective for us,” Pienkos said. “We give the offense a different look every at-bat, so it’s kept the other teams a little off balance. And that was our aim today, too.”

But Carroll, who had only thrown seven innings this season before Sunday, never found trouble. Pienkos' plan changed as the Flyers' junior mixed-in changeups and sliders low in the strike zone and induced weak contact.

Carroll cruised after a walk in the first inning and retired 12 consecutive batters after walking Lucien Saint Cyr in the third.

“I just want to make a contribution to the team,” Carroll said. “I think we can beat anyone in the league when we’re playing our best.”

Chaminade managed three hits off Bayhawks starter Victor Frederick, who struck out three batters in six innings.

St. Dominic will play No. 4 Kellenberg in an elimination game at Farmingdale State on Monday at 7 p.m.

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