NEW LONDON, Conn. – Both higher seeded teams were upset on Friday on the first day of play at the 2011 New England Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship. Fourth-seeded Southern Vermont College upended top-seeded Mitchell College by a 6-2 final in the first game while third-seeded Daniel Webster College topped second-seeded Becker College by a 9-2 final in the nightcap.
Southern Vermont (17-20 overall) and Daniel Webster (20-13 overall) will face each other for a spot in the finals on Saturday at 1 p.m. Mitchell (19-9-1 overall) and Becker (22-10) will meet in Saturday's first game at 10 a.m. The double-elimination tournament will feature three games on Saturday before the title round on Sunday.
Game One – Southern Vermont 6, Mitchell 2
Southern Vermont jumped on top early and rode a complete-game performance by Connor Murray to the upset victory. Murray held the high-powered Mitchell offense to only two runs on six hits and struck out five in 9.0 innings.
The Mountaineers put three runs on the scoreboard in the first inning to take control. They loaded the bases with no outs and scored their first run on a wild pitch. Adam Northup followed with a sacrifice fly to right to bring in the second run, and Dan Cook added a RBI single to make it 3-0. Mitchell starter Jon Blair struck out the final two batters of the frame to strand two runners and limit the damage.
Dave Northup led off the second inning with a solo homer to center field to put the Mountaineers up 4-0. It was his first home run of the season. He then picked up another RBI in the third inning with a sacrifice fly to right.
Mitchell turned the ball over to junior John Apostolo at the start of the fourth inning to slow down the SVC offense. Apostolo helped his own cause in the bottom of the frame by hitting a two-out solo homer to center, his conference-leading 10th of the season.
The Mariners scored another run in the seventh when junior Felix Colarte led off with a single and later scored on a ground out by classmate Carlos Hughes.
Apostolo had to leave the mound before the start of the eighth inning with an injury. He was unhittable in 4.0 innings of relief and struck out seven and walked three. Senior Drew Rossi tossed the final 2.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit. The Mountaineers plated their final run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly to center by Pat Warrington that scored Dave Northup.
Mitchell put the lead batter aboard in the ninth thanks to a SVC fielding error, but Murray shook it off and got a strike out and double play to end the game. He improved to 2-2 on the season. The Mountaineers turned four double plays in the game to help the cause.|
Game Two – Daniel Webster 9, Becker 7
Daniel Webster led 9-2 in the eighth inning but fought off a late-game rally from Becker to claim a 9-7 victory. The Hawks brought the tying run to the plate with two down in the ninth before Rich Lizotte secured the final out in relief.
Eagles starter Kory Kiro got off to a slow start but found his groove, throwing 7.2 innings and allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out five. He improved to 6-1 on the season.
Daniel Webster struck first with three runs in the second inning. After loading the bases with only one out, the Eagles brought in runs with infield grounders by Josh Chasse and Elliot Kilgore and scored the third run off a wild pitch.
Becker cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fourth on a two-run homer by Tom Natoli that just stayed fair down the right field line. It was his first home run of the season.
Daniel Webster tacked on a run in the fifth on a RBI single up the middle by Lizotte that scored Bruce Brown. The Eagles then added three more runs in the sixth inning highlighted by a two-run bomb to center by Korey LeLievre, his sixth of the year.
LeLievre struck again in the eighth, picking up his third RBI of the contest with a single up the middle. Lizotte also plated a run in the frame with a ground-rule double to right-center to put the Eagles up 9-2.
The extra runs would be needed as Becker didn't go down without a fight. Natoli singled with the bases loaded to drive in two in the eighth, and Joe Corey followed with a single down the left field line to bring in another.
Trailing 9-5 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Becker made it interesting by scoring runs on back-to-back infield grounders by Cody Ewest and Manny Sanchez to cut the deficit in half. Lizotte, who pitched the final 1.1 innings in relief, then got the next batter to ground out to short to end the game.
Errick Maddern made the start for Becker and allowed seven runs (two earned) on five hits and struck out seven while walking six. His record fell to 5-4 on the season. The Hawks didn't help their own cause on defense by committing six errors. Daniel Webster also added pressure by being aggressive on the base paths, finishing with seven steals in the contest.