The Saint Francis Catholic Academy baseball team is preparing for the postseason now.

Wednesday night’s opponent, Episcopal of Jacksonville, won 22 games last year and advanced to the second round of the FHSAA Class 2A state playoffs.

Senior pitcher Jude McDonald tossed a 4-hitter as the host Eagles shut out the Wolves, 8-0, at Bragan Baseball Complex at Fort Family Regional Park in Jacksonville.

It marked the first time this season that Saint Francis had been held scoreless in a game.

“When I took over, this is what we wanted,” said first-year Saint Francis Catholic Academy coach Chris Santamarina. “We wanted those tough, tough games because we didn’t want to come into a season and just roll through everybody. We wanted the adversity. These kids feed into it. We knew coming in here that it was going to be a battle…they fought no matter what. They kept the spirit up, the energy, and that’s the biggest thing.”

The Wolves (13-4) stranded a runner in scoring position in the top of the first inning.

With two outs, sophomore second baseman Andy Janelle had an infield single and freshman pitcher Carson Long walked. However, junior Colin Kuruppacherry grounded out to McDonald to end the threat.

Episcopal (8-7) took advantage of a pair of walks by Long in the bottom of the first inning. They scored a pair of runs on a wild pitch and a ground out for a 2-0 lead.

The Eagles sent seven batters to the plate and tacked on three more runs after the first two outs had been recorded in the fourth inning.

Junior Cooper Jones (1-fo-3, 2 RS) singled, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by junior Cole Davidson (2-for-2, RBI, RS), who scored on an RBI double by sophomore Ford Mercer (1-for-3, 2 RBI, RS).

Mercer scored on a double to the gap in right center field by McDonald for a 5-0 lead.

Long (4-2) appeared to have settled down, retiring six in a row and eight of nine following the 3-run fourth inning.

In fact, he struck out his first two of the game to end the fifth and begin the sixth.

But with one out, Eagles junior Caleb Stanton (2-for-3) hit a solo home run to center field, followed by a double down the right field line by senior Kamden Milner, chasing Long.

“He finally realized he needed to switch up the speeds,” Santamarina said. “Once your fastball is being established or it’s being crushed, you have to switch it up, and we knew the hitters that they had…he’s our best arm and he’s going to be a beast no matter what. He begged to stay in as much as he could because his arm wasn’t hurting and he’s a workhorse.”

Senior Gehrig Severidt provided the final margin with a 2-run home run to right center field off reliever Chris Durstine.

Meanwhile, McDonald (3-2) did get stronger as the game wore on, including striking out the side in order in the sixth inning. He finished with 11 strikeouts and only one walk.

“The off-speed stuff, they’re not used to that, and we’ve been trying to work on that as much as we could in practice, and they’re getting better at it,” Santamarina said. “We’re a great fastball hitting team, and they attack, attack, attack, but once that off speed stuff comes…”

Senior Nate Muir and freshman Brice Domalewsi each had a hit in the top of the seventh for Saint Francis Catholic Academy, which will host P.K. Yonge at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24.

The Wolves defeated the Blue Wave on the road, 8-1, on March 6 to snap a 26-game losing streak in the series.