PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville baseball team won their Freedom series opener against FDU-Florham on Friday afternoon by the score of 14-13 as junior John Bucci (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) collected the RBI to bring home the winning run for the Valiants in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Junior Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury) continued his hot hitting by going 4-for-5 at the plate with a pair of RBI, while sophomore Hans Arias (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond's) led the team with three RBI while going 2-for-4 at the plate. Three players got three hits on the afternoon as senior Chris Nardozzi (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), junior Sean Ferguson (Astoria, N.Y./Xavier) and freshman Kevin Brady (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) combined to go 9-for-15 with a combined four RBI.
The game started off with freshman Michael Lyon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) on the mound for the Valiants who worked around an error in the first frame to retire the side. In the bottom half of the first Manhattanville started with a pair of base knocks from Brady and senior Dan Fiorito (Yonkers, N.Y./Fordham Prep) who were brought around two batters later by Ferguson on a single to right centerfield.
FDU-Florham struck back with four runs in the top of the second inning all with two outs as Lyon had retired the first two he faced. The biggest blow came when Brandan Adams hit a ball to deep left centerfield that was tracked down by Bucci who then collided with leftfielder Nick Euvino (Elmsford, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) jarring the ball loose and allowing three runners to cross the plate to make the score 4-2 heading to the bottom half of the second.
In the bottom half of the inning Manhattanville scratched a run after Brady singled home LoVetere who led off the inning with a base hit. The Valiants had a chance for more in the inning but were unable to take advantage of a bases loaded situation.
In the bottom of the third the Valiants regained the lead after Ferguson led off with a single and then stole second. He was brought around on another base hit by LoVetere who in turn was brought around by Arias on a sacrifice fly to put the Valiants back up 5-4.
The Devils got runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings but sandwiched between in the bottom of the fourth was the Valiants best offensive inning of the game. Nardozzi got the rally started with a one out single and was moved up to second on an infield single two batters later by Bucci. LoVetere and Guerra had consecutive singles to the right side to put two on with two down and Arias up to bat. The third baseman hit his third triple of the season to chase home the two base runners and also chase FDU-Florham starter FJ Lucchetti from the game. Euvino singled to bring home Arias and put the Valiants up by five runs at 10-5.
In the bottom of the fifth the Valiants got two more runs as Nardozzi once again got things started with a one out single, Ferguson followed up with a double down the right field line and Bucci followed with a base hit to bring around Nardozzi. LoVetere got the second run home with an RBI groundout to second base.
FDU-Florham refused to quit as they brought around five runners over the next three innings to cut Manhattanville's lead to 12-11 heading to the ninth inning. In the top of the ninth the Devils caught a break when Nick Marcucci got an infield base hit on a comebacker right to the pitcher, the Valiants caught the break right back as Steve Seminerio lined out to Brady who caught the pinch runner off on a double-play. The next two batters reached brining up Nick Core who hit a clutch base hit to bring around the pair and give the Devils the lead back at 13-12.
In the bottom of the ninth FDU-Florham brought on Chris Laudati who was looking for the save but failed to record an out as Brady and Fiorito got things started with a pair of singles, Brady then moved to third on a wild pitch while Fiorito stayed put at first base. Nardozzi went opposite field and brought Brady home to tie the game, followed by Ferguson being intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs and Bucci coming to the plate.
With a 1-1 count, Bucci hit a fly ball to Core in right field who was running toward the foul line. The ball banked off of Core's glove and pushed into foul territory, initially the umpires ruled that the ball was fair after it was Core's error that pushed the ball into foul territory. After a minor dispute from the Devils the ball was ruled as live allowing Fiorito to score and give the Valiants their first home victory of the season at 14-13.
Earning the win in relief was Pat Yannucci (New Hyde Park, N.Y./Sewanhaka) (3-0) who allowed one run on one hit and a walk in just 1/3 of an inning. Lyon's final pitching line saw the freshman throw five-plus innings allowing 10 hits and nine runs. Senior A.J. Marini (Fair Lawn, N.J./Paramus Catholic) ate up the middle innings going 3 2/3 allowing three runs on five hits during his outing. Taking the loss was Laudati (0-2) who allowed the two final runs on three hits and the intentional walk.
Manhattanville (9-10, 5-5 Freedom) and FDU-Florham (9-12, 5-4 Freedom) will conclude their three game set tomorrow afternoon in Madison, N.J. with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.