Sunday, May 6, 2012
Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship
Springfield, Mass.
Curry 5, Gordon 0 (Gordon eliminated) (Game played at Springfield College)
Western New England 7, Endicott 6 (Endicott eliminated)
Western New England 12, Roger Williams 2
Monday, May 7, 2012
CCC Championship – Final Round (at Western New England)
12:00 p.m. – Curry vs. Roger Williams
3:30 p.m. – Western New England vs. Curry/Roger Williams winner
WNE-Endicott Box Score
WNE-Roger Williams Box Score
The Golden Bears will host either third-seeded Curry or Roger Williams at 3:30 p.m. Monday (May 7). The Colonels and Hawks meet at noon with the winner moving to the title contest. Curry defeated Gordon 5-0 in the other game held Sunday at Springfield College.
Western New England (32-11) faced elimination after dropping a 4-3 decision to Curry on Saturday, but staved off elimination with clutch hitting against Endicott and stellar pitching from sophomore Brendan Nugent (Milford, CT) in the Roger Williams game.
Curry 5, Gordon 0
Freshman Thomas Fitzpatrick (South Boston, MA) tossed a nifty three-hit shutout walking five and striking out seven to send the Colonels to the championship round. Sophomore Kyle Connors (Stoughton, MA) had a pair of hits along with a run scored and RBI.
Curry (18-23) took a 1-0 lead in the first on a run-scoring single by junior catcher Matt Rodriguez (Quincy, MA) and tallied three runs in the second to open a 4-0 advantage.
Gordon committed three errors that led to three unearned runs. Senior Eric Wolak (Trumbull, CT) (0-4) was the losing pitcher. The Fighting Scots finish their season with a 15-26 record.
Western New England 7, Endicott 6
Junior second baseman Tim Clark (West Springfield, MA) delivered a RBI single in the eighth inning to score junior right fielder Matt Anthonis (Guilford, CT) who was safe on a close play at home plate. Anthonis finished with three hits (including a triple) and scored twice while knocking in a pair of runs.
Clark, senior designated hitter Mike Taylor (Andover, MA), and junior left fielder Taylor Perun (Plainville, CT) each contributed two hits.
The Golden Bears led 5-1 after three innings and went ahead 6-1 in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Taylor.
Endicott (27-16) scored five runs in the eighth tying the game when senior third baseman Daniel Mello (Peabody, MA) greeted senior reliever Mike Lawlor (Windsor, CT) with a three-run homer. Sophomore right fielder Conor Ressel (Gloucester, MA) and senior shortstop Benjamin Petrides (Belchertown, MA) had RBI singles in the inning.
Senior Mark DiTommaso (Hebron, CT) was outstanding through six innings allowing just a run and five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. He tired in the eighth and was replaced by Lawlor who later redeemed himself by getting the final out with a runner on third in the ninth to improve his record to 4-2.
Senior left fielder Mike Russo (Natick, MA) led Endicott with three hits while Ressel had a two-hit outing. The Gulls employed five pitchers with sophomore John Morrison (Ridgefield, CT) getting his first loss of the season in three decisions after allowing the go-ahead run.
Both teams finished with 11 hits and combined to leave 21 runners on base, including 10 for the Gulls who couldn't score with the bases loaded in both the third and fourth innings.
Western New England 12, Roger Williams 2
Nugent, the CCC Pitcher-of-the-Year, raised his record to 8-1 after giving up a run and eight hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Junior third baseman Mike Rubino (Northford, CT) had a pair of doubles, runs scored, and RBIs to lead the way. He also compiled his 200th career hit. Sophomore centerfielder Jeff Schult (Wappingers Falls, NY) singled, doubled, scored three times, and knocked in a pair of runs in addition to stealing his 27th base of the season.
Junior shortstop Kyle McKelvey (Schenectady, NY) also had two hits and scored twice.
Western New England had a 5-1 lead before breaking the game open with seven runs in the seventh inning.
The Hawks, who entered the game as the only undefeated team in championship play at 2-0, collected 10 hits, but left nine runners on base. Senior first baseman Trevor Manzi (Beverly, MA), senior designated hitter Tim Georgen (Bristol, CT), and junior shortstop John Oppenhimer (Westport, CT) all had two hits. Freshman Brendan Telfer (Avon, CT) (1-3) suffered the loss.
Roger Williams now has a 16-26 record.