Forrest followed up senior right-hander Danny Lumb's (Stoneham, Mass.) outstanding performance in game one of the season with another pitcher's duel in game two, Sunday morning. In his first complete game of the year, Forrest kept Mountaineers off balance in his best start of the season allowing just three hits and one free pass while striking out two.
However, offense was not easy to come by for the Nighthawks as Mountaineer first year right-hander Jean-Carlos Berasgoico (New York, N.Y.) was equally as impressive for Southern Vermont. The New York City native matched Forrest's performance through seven innings striking out six Nighthawks while scattering just four hits. Additionally, he was able to get out of some tough jams unscathed to keep the game scoreless.
Sophomore T.J. Desmond (Boiling Springs, S.C.) pinch ran for first year designated hitterMatthew Peluso (Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada), who reached on a one-out single in the seventh, and got himself into scoring position swiping second. However, thanks to a heads up play by Mountaineer shortstop Chris Nicastro, Jr. (Kenilworth, N.J.) , Desmond was retired trying to advance to third on a fielder's choice by sophomore second baseman C.J. Ingraham (Georgetown, Mass.) for the second out of the inning.
Game one remained scoreless until Newbury final got to Southern Vermont first year reliever Nick Hartman (Hartland, Conn.) in the bottom of the 10th. The Mountaineers got two quick outs in the frame as it appeared the game would be extending into the 11th but the senior first baseman Cameron D'Agostino (Salisbury, Mass.) kept the inning going reaching on a hit-by-pitch. After fellow senior, leftfielder Steven Broy (Gorham, Maine) singled to move D'Agostino up 90 feet, first year shortstop Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.) came through in the clutch with a single. D'Agostino got on his high horse and motored around from second to score the game-winner.
However, Southern Vermont was able to salvage the series finale as the Mountaineer bats came alive in an 11-3 victory. Senior right-hander Dustin Marfyak (Torrington, Conn.) tossed four innings allowing three runs on four hits to earn his second victory of the season.
Sophomore right-hander Tim Brown (Orange, Conn.) came on in relief of a first year right-hander Jacob Pringle (Acushnet, Mass.) pitched outstanding allowing just one unearned run on one hit. Senior right-hander Lyndon Brundige (Rockland, Mass.) came out of the pen and tossed the last two innings of game two for the Nighthawks allowing just one run while striking out one.
Following the split, Newbury improves to 9-11 and 5-5 in the conference while Southern Vermont moves to 5-6 and 1-2 in NECC action. The Nighthawks will be back in action this weekend, Saturday April 4th for a twin-bill against NECC foe Elms College in Chicopee, Mass. The Mountaineers return to the diamond Friday April 3rd when they host Becker College. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
Game Notes:
Junior third baseman Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.) became the second fastest player in Newbury baseball program history to record his 100th career hit with a single up the middle in the sixth inning of game one…It took Zahornasky just 90 games to reach the elusive milestone, trailing only 2012 Newbury graduate Pat Curry, who recorded it in only 84 games…