NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College won three elimination games on Sunday to capture the 2015 New England Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship.
Mitchell started the day by completing the final two innings of a 14-2 win over fourth-seeded Becker College, a game that began on Saturday but was halted due to darkness. The top-seeded Mariners then beat second-seeded Elms College twice to claim the conference crown, winning by final scores of 9-0 and 9-3.
Mitchell's deep pitching corps was the difference against Elms. In the first game freshman pitcher Bryton Ferris hurled a two-hit shutout to hand the Blazers their first loss of the double-elimination tournament. Clayton Shaw then turned in a quality start in the winner-take-all second game, and the Mariners used a six-run rally in the eighth to break a 3-3 tie.
Mitchell's Kenneth Olszewski was named the Championship's most valuable player. The senior left fielder batted .409 over five games with three doubles, two home runs, five RBI and five runs scored. Joining Olszewski on the all-tournament team were Ferris and Al Jordan Johnson, who earned the win in relief in the final game and went 2-0 on the hill in the Championship.
The Mariners repeated as conference champions and won the fourth NECC title in school history (2014, 2011, 2010). Mitchell also secured the NECC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and will make its third appearance in the tournament (2014, 2011). The NCAA bracket is scheduled to be released later tonight or early Monday morning on NCAA.com.
2015 NECC All-Tournament Team
Kenneth Olszewski, Mitchell (MVP)
Al Jordan Johnson, Mitchell
Bryton Ferris, Mitchell
Tom Weldon, Elms
Andrew Sadowski, Elms
Nolan Medeiros, Elms
Matt Consigli, Becker
Nick Lemay, Becker
Tom Muratore, Lesley
Kevin Hopwood, Lesley
Title Round Game 1 – Mitchell 9, Elms 0
Elms put a runner in scoring position with one out in the first, but Mitchell's rookie left-hander slipped out of trouble with a pair of ground balls to keep the game scoreless. Ferris worked out of a similar situation in the second, stranding two Blazers on the base paths by keeping the ball in the infield to record the final two outs of the frame.
Mitchell put two on with two outs in the fourth but came away empty as Elms starter Tom Weldon got a ground ball to first to end the threat. The Mariners then took advantage of an error to get on the scoreboard in the fifth. Neftali Arroyo led off with a walk and ended up on third base after Weldon fielded a sacrifice bunt and made a wild throw to first. Gavin LaLima later followed with a long fly ball to center that allowed Arroyo to tag up and score with the game's first run.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Elms put a pair of runners on as Ben Ross sent a flare into center and Brady Forrest walked on four pitches. Tim Gelzinis then drove a ball to deep center, but LaLima settled under it to end the inning.
The Mariners put runners on the corners with no outs in the sixth thanks to a ground-rule double by Olszewski and a single by Evan Peck. After Weldon recorded the first out via strikeout, Peck moved up a base with a steal, and Kyle Hartenstein followed with a single through the left side of the infield to plate a pair of runs.
Ferris worked out of trouble again in the sixth as the Blazers put two on with one out. He retired the next two batters to keep the 3-0 lead intact, getting a fly ball to right and a strikeout to wiggle out of trouble.
Mitchell broke the game open with three runs in the seventh and put two on with no outs to get things started. After initially showing bunt, Tyler Pina chopped a single through the hole in the right side of the infield to plate the first run of the frame. LaLima then scored on a wild pitch, and Rafael Garcia beat out a double play to knock in the final run of the rally.
The Mariners added three runs in the eighth to make it 9-0. LaLima provided a RBI single, Pina supplied a sacrifice fly and Olszewski tacked on a RBI double to highlight the frame.
Ferris (5-0 overall) allowed only one hit after the second inning en route to the first shutout of his career. He also struck out three while walking five.
Weldon, who made his third appearance in as many days, took the loss for Elms. He surrendered six runs (three earned) on five hits in 6.1 innings of work and struck out four.
Title Round Game 2 – Mitchell 9, Elms 3
Each team put a runner on base in the first inning but saw them erased while attempting to steal second. After a scoreless second inning, Mitchell put two runs up in the third on a RBI single by LaLima and a sacrifice fly by Pina. A nifty play by Nolan Medeiros at shortstop saved a run and ended the inning with the Mariners in front 2-0.
Shaw hit trouble in the fourth after allowing back-to-back singles to Forrest and Gelzinis to start the frame. However, the Mariners turned a 3-6-1 double play to record the first two outs, and after a walk put runners on the corners, Shaw got the next batter to foul out and escaped unscathed.
Mitchell capitalized on a break in the fifth as Arroyo sent a long fly ball into right-center that dropped after the fielder lost the ball in the sun. Arroyo ended up on third base but wasn't there long as Ryan Goodwin followed with a single to left to plate the run.
The Blazers closed the gap with three runs in the seventh to tie the game. Elms scored its first run of the day on a RBI single by Geoff Frost, the final batter of the day for Shaw. The Blazers then hit up the Mitchell bullpen for two more runs, the first coming on a ground ball by Medeiros while the tying run scored on a two-out single past the third-base bag by pinch hitter Kevin Dwire.
After Johnson pitched a clean eighth, the Mariners exploded for six runs in the home half to break the game open. The first six batters all reached base in the frame, as LaLima got things jump-started with a leadoff triple to right-center. Pina plated the go-ahead run with a single to left field, and Olszewski knocked him in from first base with a double to center. Hartenstein added a RBI single while Goodwin drove in two with a single through the left side, and Peter McTernan capped the rally with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-6.
Johnson struck out two batters in the ninth before getting the final batter to fly out to Olszewski in left. He pitched 2.1 innings of relief to earn the win and improved to 10-0 on the season, breaking the program record for single season victories by a pitcher.
Shaw allowed three runs on six hits over 6.0 innings and struck out one while walking two.
Saturday's Halted Game – Mitchell 14, Becker 2
Mitchell wrapped up a 14-2 win over Becker on Sunday morning to earn its third straight trip to the NECC Championship title round. Neither side scored in the final two innings of the contest, which was halted on Saturday in the top of the eighth due to darkness.
Olszewski hit two home runs while McTernan added another for the Mariners. It marked the first multi-homer game of Olszewski's career and the first long ball of McTernan's Mitchell career.
Mitchell sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs in the first inning as the offense, which was dormant the game prior, finally came to life. LaLima led off the game with a triple to right and came home on a two-run homer by Olszewski that was launched over the left field fence. A single by Hartenstein, a double by Goodwin and a single by LaLima also plated runs in the frame as the Mariners got into the Becker bullpen early.
The Mariners added three runs in the second inning to bump the lead to double digits. Hartenstein knocked in another run with a single to right-center while Goodwin added a two-run single to left. A two-run homer by McTernan in the fourth inning extended Mitchell's lead to 12-0.
The Hawks got on the scoreboard in the sixth on a two-run homer by Consigli. His shot over the left field fence was his fifth long ball of the season. Olszewski added his second homer of the game in the bottom of the frame, a solo shot to left that brought his season total to three. Arroyo then put the Mariners up 14-2 with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Peck.
Mitchell's Axel De Jesus was the pitcher of record when the game was halted and picked up the win. He allowed two runs on six hits over 7.0 innings and struck out five batters. Evan McClain tossed 2.0 innings of scoreless relief to finish out the win.
Keon Jenkins got the starting nod for Becker and gave up seven runs (six earned) on five hits and didn't make it out of the first inning.