Last year, the Saint Francis Catholic Academy baseball team won its first district title in program history, followed by the school’s first regional win.

On Friday night, the Wolves ended another streak with an 8-1 road win against P.K. Yonge at Bobby Hawkins Field.

The Wolves (10-2) snapped a 26-game losing streak to the Blue Wave, which began in February of 2009.

“We knew coming in here that we haven’t beaten them, actually, in our program since, I think, 2018,” said first-year Saint Francis Catholic Academy coach Chris Santamarina. “Ironically, we’re 0-10 against them since then, and tonight we won our 10th game, so it’s the baseball gods right there. It’s funny how that works.”

Last year, they came close with a 9-8 loss, and this year’s game was in doubt because the final score was not indicative of the way the game went.

It was a pitchers’ duel between Saint Francis Catholic Academy freshman Carson Long and P.K. Yonge sophomore Sam DePaul.

Long nearly threw a complete game but came out of the game with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. He allowed just one run on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

“He’s our strong freshman,” Santamarina said. “I’ve had him since fifth grade over at Queen of Peace, and he’s been legit. He’s a beast. That kid does not stop. He’s an unbelievable freshman.”

DePaul was cruising until the top of the seventh inning.

“He’s our number one guy,” said P.K. Yonge coach Rob Brunson. “He gets ahead in counts, keeps the ball down, and throws pretty hard. He’s a guy that never has a complaint about his arm. His arm is never sore. He takes care of it, and he’s always ready to go.”

Through six innings, he only allowed one run on five hits with only one walk and five strikeouts.

“Their pitcher, Sammy DePaul, I’ve known him for quite some time now, and he’s just an awesome player,” Santamarina said. “But they’ve got great players, great coaches.”

Long also delivered at the plate by driving in their first run on a single to right field in the top of the fourth inning, scoring Andy Janelle, who had singled, for a 1-0 lead against P.K. Yonge (7-3).

It stayed that way until the final inning.

However, in the top of the seventh inning, the Wolves got plenty of insurance and put the game out of reach.

“Yeah, that’s frustrating,” Brunson said. “I mean, we were in it until the end. I hate to see it in that way. But Sammy DePaul came in, did a great job on the mound. We put Charlie (Tumminia) in to close it out or at least give us a chance to win it in the last inning, and we had some errors, and they just deflated after that.”

The Wolves sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs on four hits and four walks, including three consecutive bases-loaded walks against Tumminia, who came in relief after DePaul walked the leadoff hitter.

Freshman Brice Domalewsi led off the inning with a walk, followed by a single to center field by junior Jonah Powers (2-for-4, RBI, RS) and a perfect bunt by senior Cyrus Fariborzian on the third base side to load the bases.

Janelle (3-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, DBL) singled in a pair of runs, and Long (2-for-3, 2 RBI) singled in another run for a 4-0 lead.

Seniors Nate Muir and Chris Durstine, and Domalewsi, all walked and added an RBI.

Saint Francis Catholic Academy will travel to Countryside Christian at 4 p.m. on Monday, followed by a home game against GHS on Tuesday and a trip to Santa Fe (Alachua) on Thursday.

“When I took over the program, we set the standard quickly, the accountability for everything they do,” Santamarina said. “We’re trying to stay with it, and it’s the mentality of knowing that it’s not just baseball, it’s what happens after baseball. We’re trying to create those characters, and the only way to do that is by staying accountable for everything they do.”

Eighth-grader Gerardo Barrios went 3-for-3 with an RBI for P.K. Yonge, which had a 5-game winning streak snapped.

The Blue Wave will host Eastside at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by home games on Thursday and Friday against West Port (Ocala) and Branford, respectively.