Marist’s Cal Sefcik didn’t have time to ponder the pitch that got away.

The junior shortstop came on in relief Friday afternoon but then gave up a home run to St. Laurence’s Jameson Martin in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Redemption came quickly.

“I had to forget about it,” Sefcik said.

The Indiana recruit had an unforgettable at-bat in the top of the seventh with a double. He scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by senior first baseman George Bilecki.

All the drama added up to a 3-2 nonconference victory for the RedHawks in Burbank.

Sefcik (1-1) also picked up the pitching win for Marist (10-9). In a topsy-turvy year, the RedHawks hope the thrilling victory ignites a run.

“We were 32-5 last year and got to a sectional,” Sefcik said. “We came into this game with a 9-9 record. A bunch of returners are naturally asking what is going on here?”

Baseball can be a roller-coaster game anyway, and the weather has been lousy and inconsistent, leaving too many games canceled or unplayable.In a game wholly dependent on repetition, the opportunities have been thwarted by all manner of stops and starts.

As a result, Sefcik said Marist has struggled to find consistency and its identity.

“If this were a normal season, we’d have played 25 games by now,” he said. “We had a great start, then we had a two-week layoff and really struggled with all the delays and interruptions.

“Last week was really tough. I feel like this week is the first time all season where I have felt relaxed and ready to play.”

Sefcik also has the privilege — and complications — of playing for his father Frank, who is Marist’s coach.

“It’s tough at times,” Cal said.

His father had the right advice just before his fateful plate appearance, however. Frank said his focus was on his son’s at-bat at that moment, not the blown lead.

It was a chance at a fresh start.

“He obviously wanted to redeem himself,” Frank said. “But the most important thing was do whatever he had to do to get on first or second base.”

The RedHawks got off to a strong start as junior outfielder Owen Duffy and senior DH Joe Egan produced RBI singles in the first inning.

Family runs deep for Marist. George Bilecki then drove in the winning run. His brother Frank, a sophomore southpaw, also was superb in his third start.

Frank Bilecki struck out five and allowed just three hits.

“He’s a very talented pitcher,” Frank Sefcik said of Bilecki. “I wanted to have that experience for later in the season, especially near the playoffs.”

Bilecki had thrown a no-hitter against St. Patrick in his second career start.

“I was able to put the ball over the plate and stay in front of the counts,” he said. “My change-up was really working and I was able to throw strikes.”

He showed poise and skill against the Vikings, who return a strong nucleus from a team that finished in third place last season in Class 3A.

“It’s just a thrill for me to go up against these older guys, to go out there and compete,” Bilecki said.

Martin, a sophomore outfielder, hit his second home run this spring for the Vikings.

St. Laurence (20-3) was looking to rebound after suffering its first losses of the season this week to Providence and Mount Carmel.

“It’s frustrating because we are not doing a lot of the little things right now that we did earlier in the year,” St. Laurence coach Pete Lotus said. “If you play well and a team beats you, you can handle those things.

“Right now, we are putting too many guys on base. We also did not have great at-bats.”