A.J. Holmes pitched BG into the quarterfinals as they topped Portsmouth 7-1 on Thursday in the Division I prelims. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

PORTSMOUTH – One of the modest goals the Portsmouth High School baseball team set for itself entering the season was to host a playoff game.

Same for Bishop Guertin. The Clippers accomplished that feat by winning their final home game of the regular season, while the Cards didn’t and had to travel. But they got the better end of things Thursday night on the road in a 7-1 win over Portsmouth in the first round of the Division I tournament.

“They’re a good team,” said Portsmouth starting pitcher and senior co-captain Joe Zingariello of the Cards. “At times we beat ourselves.”

No. 8 seed Portsmouth led 1-0 entering the top of the fifth inning when the roof caved in. The visitors scored three runs in that frame and four in the sixth to pull away, winning a first round game for the first time since 2021.

The Clippers finished with a record of 11-9 while No. 9 BG improved to 12-9 and will take on No. 1 seed and undefeated Pinkerton Academy in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

“We had a home playoff game like we wanted,” Zingariello said. “We grinded all season. I’m just proud of all the guys.”

Portsmouth managed only three hits off Guertin righthander AJ Holmes, two by Gar Hindle and one by Hugh Herter, a two-out double to left-center in the bottom of the fourth inning that scored Zavier Lampert who drew a walk to lead off the home half of the frame.

“We knew this game was going to be tough from the start,” said Hindle, a senior co-captain. “We had some hiccups here and there and the game got away from us late.”

Indeed, the lead didn’t last long as the Cardinals went ahead to stay with a three-run fifth highlighted by back-to-back, run-scoring doubles by eighth and ninth-place hitters Ethan Drouin and Nate Bowen.

“They put the bat on the ball and just ran away with it,” said Zingariello. “They have a good group of hitters and a good pitcher. You can’t take anything away from them.”

The Clippers also committed two errors in the fifth. BG added four more runs in the sixth keyed by Nick Wyner’s two-run single and Bowen’s RBI knock. Portsmouth also made three more errors to aid the visitors’ cause and finished with six miscues for the game.

“We were still comfortable at 3-1,” said Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley. “We had opportunities. We had guys on base. We were just looking for one hit at an opportune time. In the top of the sixth the wheels kind of fell off.”

Hitting at the bottom of the batting order, BG’s Drouin and Bowen combined for four hits, three RBIs and three runs scored.

“It’s not easy being a top eight team in Division I,” Hindle said. “That’s a good accomplishment. We really wanted to get past the first round, it just didn’t go the way we wanted it.”

Zingariello faced just two batters over the minimum through the first four innings, with one reaching on an error and another who struck out but reached on a wild pitch.

“We were comfortable with where Joe’s pitch count was at,” Hopley said. “He only had 72 going into the (fifth). It unraveled pretty quickly.”

Guertin’s first batter in the fifth reached on an error and that opened the floodgates for the Cardinals.