ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Manhattanville baseball team split their pair of games in St. Davids, Pa. on Saturday afternoon against the Eastern eagles, winning the first game by a score of 10-6, before falling in game two by a 13-1 margin.
 
Senior Chris Nardozzi (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) went 4-for-8 at the plate for the afternoon with two runs scored and three RBI. Junior Sean Ferguson (Astoria, N.Y./Xavier) also went 4-for-8 and drove in three runs. Senior Dan Fiorito (Yonkers, N.Y./Fordham Prep) and junior Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury) each scored three runs apiece in the combined 14 innings of play.
 
In the first game the Valiants sent 16 batters to the plate through the first innings as Nardozzi reached on an error by the pitcher that allowed LoVetere to scamper home with the game's first run. Ferguson drove in the next two runs with a single to left field to chase home Fiorito and Nardozzi. Sophomore Elias Tsouristakis (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham Prep) brought around Ferguson who had advance to third on a couple of groundouts.
 
In the top of the second the Valiants got right back to work offensively as Fiorito reached on a one out single and promptly stole second. Nardozzi singled his classmate around and advanced to second on an error, before being moved up to third on a base knock off the bat of freshman Kevin Brady (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) which chased starting pitcher Brandon Kenish from the game. Junior John Bucci (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) got in on the action with a two-run single to the opposite field to bring home Nardozzi and Brady to put the Valiants up 7-0.
 
In the bottom of the third, freshman starter Michael Lyon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) was roughed up for four runs of his own including a two-run double off the bat of Greg DeSarro to make the score 7-4 heading to the fourth. Nardozzi and Ferguson led off the fourth with back-to-back singles but the offense was unable to bring them around.
 
Lyon allowed one more run off of Lyon in the bottom of the fourth before being pulled for senior A.J. Marini (Fair Lawn, N.J./Paramus Catholic) who got out of a two on and two out scenario for the Valiants. The Valiant offense continued to settle down quietly as Marini allowed the sixth Eagle run to make the score 7-6 heading to the sixth.
 
In the top of the seventh Manhattanville got some more breathing room with a three run rally started off by freshman Nick Euvino (Elmsford, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) reaching on an error and then stole second base, followed by sophomore Hans Arias (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond's) getting plunked by a pitch to put two on with no outs. LoVetere reached on an infield bunt single followed by the biggest blow of the game two batters later as Nardozzi cleared the bases with a double to finish off the scoring at 10-6.

Earning the win in relief was Marini (1-2) who allowed one run on four hits in 3 1/3 inning after coming on for Lyon who allowed five runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings of work. Taking the loss was Kenish (2-3) who allowed seven runs on five hits in just under three innings of work. Ben Melendez came on to finish off the opener, pitching 5 1/3 innings allowing three runs on eight hits.
 
In the second game Manhattanville got on the board first with a run in the first as LoVetere reached on a single and later made it to second on a wild pitch. Three batters later Ferguson drove home LoVetere with a base knock to put Manhattanville up 1-0.
 
From that point forward it was all downhill for the Valiants as freshman Joe Palmeri (Mastic, N.Y./Eastport/South Manor) struggled in his starting role allowing five runs on six hits in just over an inning of work. Senior Pat Yannucci (New Hyde Park, N.Y./Sewanhaka) came on in long relief and didn't fare as well either allowing seven runs on eight hits while eating up four innings on the mound for Manhattanville.
 
Meanwhile offensively the bats struggled against Eagle starter Ernie Stiegler who pitched a complete game while allowing the lone Valiant tally in the top of the first while scattering seven more hits over the final six innings of work. Manhattanville's best offensive chance off of Stiegler came in the top of the third as Nardozzi struck a one out double and two batters later Brady singling to push him to third. However the rest of the lineup was unable to bring home either runner.
 
In the bottom of the third with Yannucci on the hill the Valiants turned a rare feat in the frame as they turned a triple play after the first two runners reached. With Andre Butler at the plate for Eastern he hit a line drive right at Brady who threw the ball to Nardozzi who then threw the ball to Fiorito at second to complete the trifecta.
 
Eastern blew the game open in the bottom of the sixth scoring six times, chasing Yannucci in the process. Devon Ziegenfuss had the biggest hit of the inning with a two run double down the leftfield line. Junior Don Fisher (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) came onto get the final out of the inning for the Valiants while getting charged with the last Eagle run in the process.
 
The Valiants put two runners on in the top of the seventh but Stiegler got out of the inning to salvage the doubleheader split with Manhattanville.
 
Taking the loss was Palmeri (1-2) who struggled allowing five runs, Yannucci pitched four more innings but allowed seven more Eastern runs. While Fisher got charged for one, while retiring the last Eagle batter. Stiegler (3-4) earned the complete game one run victory, while striking out one batter in the win.
 
In winning two of the three games this weekend against Eastern the Valiants are now tied with the Eagles for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Freedom Conference Championship heading into the final weekend of play. The two wins also secures a tiebreaker against the Eagles should they finish with identical conference records. The Valiants matchup with current second seed DeSales next weekend, while Eastern plays three games against current top seed Misericordia on Friday and Saturday.
 
Manhattanville (14-16, 8-10 Freedom) will return to the field on Tuesday afternoon when they host Ramapo at 4:00 p.m. with live coverage of the game available on GoValiants.com. Eastern (20-14, 8-10 Freedom) will also return to the field on Tuesday when they travel to their former PSAC rival Gwynedd-Mercy for a 4:00 p.m. start.