| Western New England took two games from Endicott to
win their fourth consecutive TCCC crown. Western New England photo by Ken Cerino |
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Top-seeded Western New England defeated
third-seeded Endicott by identical 5-4 scores Sunday to capture The
Commonwealth Coast Conference Baseball Championship title for the
fourth consecutive year.
The Golden Bears, ranked 25th nationally, posted a 6-1 record in
the tournament (including four victories by one run) and had to win
back-to-back doubleheaders to earn an automatic invitation to the
NCAA Division III Championship for the sixth straight year.
Coach Matt's LaBranche's squad now has a school-best 38-9
record.
Junior relief pitcher Mike Lawlor won the opener and earned the
save in the second contest. Sophomore left-fielder Matt Anthonis
had five hots in the doubleheader.
Game 1 - Western New England 5, Endicott 4
Sophomore second baseman Tim Clark delivered the game-winning
single with two outs in the eighth as the Golden Bears staved off
elimination. He drove in senior center-fielder Andrew Fatse who was
safe on an error and advanced to second on the wild throw.
Endicott scored single runs in the first three innings before WNE
scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third. The Golden Bears
tied the contest with a sacrifice fly by junior first baseman Mike
Taylor in the fourth and sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Tony
Trubia in the fifth.
The Gulls went ahead 4-3 in the sixth when freshman shortstop Jake
Northrup led-off with a long homer to left off Lawlor who entered
the game the previous inning. Anthonis then tied the game with a
key two-out single in the seventh.
Lawlor was outstanding going five innings giving up two hits with
no walks and five strikeouts to raise his record to 3-1.
Clark, sophomore third baseman Mike Rubino, and sophomore
shortstop Kyle McKelvey each finished with two hits.
Northrup also had two hits, including a run-scoring single in the
third that put the visitors ahead 3-0.
Junior right-fielder Colin Sitarz reached base three times with
two singles and a hit by pitch. He and Northrup also scored a run
apiece. Junior Mike Nich (6-4) was the hard-luck loser in relief.
He gave up just two hits and had a strikeout in an
inning-and-a-third.
Game 2 - Western New England 5, Endicott 4
Clark again drove in what proved to be the winning run with a
double in a two-run sixth that gave the Golden Bears a 5-2 lead.
His clutch hit brought home Fatse who doubled in the previous
at-bat to score McKelvey who had a lead-off walk.
Anthonis went 4-for-4 with three singles and a triple with a run
scored and RBI.
Endicott rallied with a run in the seventh on a key two-out single
by freshman center-fielder Tad Golf. The Gulls scored an unearned
run in the eighth to get within 5-4 when junior catcher Robbie
Goldstick walked, moved to second on a passed ball, and came home
on a two-out single by senior third baseman Chris Dominiguez.
EC threatened in the ninth when Northrup and Sitarz singled to
lead-off the inning. Lawlor got the final three outs, including a
game-ending double play for his eighth save of the season. He
permitted only three hits in an inning-and-two-thirds.
The Golden Bears finished with 12 hits as Clark had three safeties
to finish hitting a team-high .440 in the tournament.
Dominiguez led the 15-hit Endicott attack with three hits while
five other players each contributed two hits apiece. The Gulls,
however, left 12 runners on base. Freshman Drew Dumas suffered his
first loss in three decisions in relief.
Western New England senior catcher Jason Leclerc threw out a
runner in the first game and two in the second contest. The Gulls
also had another runner thrown out at the plate in the first game
on a delayed double steal.
Senior Evan Michaud came in relief and gave up two runs (one
earned) with five hits, a walk, and four strikeouts in four innings
for his seventh win of the season without a loss.
Endicott (30-15) could be in consideration for a post-season
playoff invitation.