NEW LONDON, Conn. – Elms College advanced to the title round of the 2015 New England Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship on Saturday at Alumni Field.
Second-seeded Elms earned a berth with a 6-3 win over top-seeded Mitchell in the day's second game. Starting pitcher Andrew Sadowski kept the top offensive team in the conference off balance over 8.0 innings to secure the win for the Blazers (19-15 overall). Elms pounded out 15 hits and strung together runs in five different innings en route to the win.
In the final game of the day to determine Elms' opponent in the title round, Mitchell led fourth-seeded Becker College by a 14-2 margin before the elimination game was halted in the top of the eighth inning due to darkness. The game will resume on Sunday, May 10 at 9:30 a.m., and the winner will move on to face Elms at 11:00 a.m.
In the day's first game, Becker tied the score in the eighth inning and plated two runs in the 10th to eliminate third-seeded Lesley University (14-23 overall) by a 6-4 final in extra innings. Starting pitcher Nick Lemay went the distance for the Hawks while Matthew Consigli and Francis Baldino fueled the offense with three hits apiece.
Elms would need one win on Sunday to clinch its first-ever NECC title. If the Blazers lose the 11:00 a.m. game, a winner-take-all final game would be played at 2:00 p.m.
Game 1 – Becker 6, Lesley 4 (10 innings)
Becker took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a RBI double by Baldino that one-hopped the fence in left field. With runners on second and third and only one out, the Hawks tried to score another run on a wild pitch but ran into an out at the plate. Tom Muratore then got a ground ball to escape the inning without any further damage.
Lesley answered back with a run in the fourth to tie the game. David Hersey led off the frame with a single through the left side and later scored from third on a ground out by Joe Muratore.
Consecutive singles through the left side of the infield by Keon Jenkins and Kevin Perez set the table for Becker in the fifth. Baldino then knocked in his second run of the day with a single through the right side to put the Hawks back on top 2-1.
A RBI single by Gustavo Polidor tied the game once again in the home half of the fifth. The Lynx could have had more but stranded a pair of runners in scoring position as Lemay got a fly ball to end the threat.
Becker used its speed on the base paths to edge in front in the sixth. Consigli led off with a single to left field and moved into scoring position with a steal of second base. With two outs, Consigli was off on the pitch when pinch hitter Michael Cioce singled to the hole between first and second. Lesley second baseman Adam Ciampi made a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield but had no play at either first or home as the run scored.
Lesley opened the sixth with back-to-back singles by Adam Hopwood and Joe Muratore and tied the game on a RBI single to center by Justin Clark. The Lynx then took their first lead of the day when a ground out by Ciampi plated another run. Becker limited the damage to only two runs as Lemay got the final two outs to leave the bags packed.
Consigli was the spark again as the Hawks tied the game in the eighth. He roped a lead-off single to left that was misplayed, and with his speed he ended up on third base before the ball made it back to the infield. Two batters later, Cioce lifted a fly ball to deep left that allowed Consigli to tag up and easily score the tying run.
Lesley tried to win the game in the ninth on a two-out double down the left field line by Mike Slaby. Polidor was on first base when Slaby's shot skipped over the third base bag, and he rounded third as the relay throw hit Consigli in shallow left. Consigli's strike to the plate was in plenty of time to cut down the runner and sent the game into extra innings.
Consigli started off the 10th with a single and scored the go-ahead run all the way from first base on a double down the left-field line by Niko Bedell. T.J. Sempkowski followed with a double of his own to knock in an insurance run that made the lead 6-4, though the Hawks left the bases loaded as Lesley reliever Jeff Heinz came in to record a big strikeout.
Lemay came out in the 10th and retired the side in order to wrap up the win. He allowed four runs on 11 hits over 10.0 innings and struck out six to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Consigli finished 3-for-5 at the plate and scored three runs. Baldino went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBI while Perez went 3-for-4 with a double.
Tom Muratore (6-3 overall) tossed 9.2 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on 15 hits. He also struck out nine batters while walking two.
Game 2 – Elms 6, Mitchell 3
Mitchell put a run up on the board in the bottom of the first inning to take the early lead. Gavin LaLima led off with a single to center and went from first to third on a single through the right side by Kenneth Olszewski. LaLima then scored on a ground ball to short by Evan Peck, who hustled down the line to beat out the double-play attempt.
Elms responded with a run in the second inning to tie the game. Michael Bombard drew a lead-off walk and was on second base when Geoff Frost brought him home with a single to left. The Blazers had a chance at more, but Mitchell starter Tyler Shamas got a strikeout and ground out to end the frame.
The Blazers chased Shamas from the game in the third inning and pulled ahead 2-1 in the process. Brady Forrest was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and after stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch, he scored on a fielder's choice on a ball put into play by Jordan Zima. Mitchell reliever Eddie Santiago came in to get the last out of the frame to strand an Elms runner on third.
Mitchell stranded a runner at second base in the third as Sadowski got a strikeout to keep the lead intact. Santiago escaped trouble in the top of the fourth, striking out two batters to strand a runner on second following a one-out double by Nolan Medeiros.
The Blazers tacked on two runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 4-1. Zima provided a RBI single in the rally while Tim Gelzinis scored on a wild pitch. In the sixth, Mitchell went to the bullpen again as Elms put runners on first and second with one out. The Blazers added another run on a RBI single by Bombard, but reliever Troy Stango got a line-drive double play to limit the damage.
Forrest stepped up to the plate with two on and two out in the seventh and delivered a RBI single to left to make it 6-1. Mitchell answered back with two runs in the home half courtesy of a two-run double by LaLima that also came with two outs.
Domenick Giaramida pitched a scoreless eighth to keep Mitchell in the game, and the Mariners brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth before reliever Tom Weldon nailed down the final out to earn his first save of the season.
Sadowski (6-4 overall) allowed three runs on five hits over 8.0 innings and struck out five. Weldon gave up a pair of hits but also struck out two in 1.0 inning of work.
Shamas (7-1 overall) lasted 2.2 innings and yielded two runs on two hits. Santiago struck out four and gave up three runs over 2.2 innings while Stango allowed one run in 1.1. Giaramida didn't allow a run over the final 2.1 innings and gave up three hits.
Game 3 – Mitchell 14, Becker 2 (game halted in top of the eighth)
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 Kyle Hartenstein, a double by Ryan 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 Peter 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. Neftali 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 heading into the top of the eighth. He allowed two runs on six hits over 7.0 innings and struck out five batters. 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.