Baseball Advances To NECC Title Round
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Eastern Nazarene | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
|
Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
|
New England Col. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
HENNIKER, N.H. – Second-seeded Mitchell College split a pair of one-run games on Saturday at the 2022 New England Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship, advancing to Sunday's title round at Laurie Cox Memorial Field.
The day began with a 4-3 loss to top-seeded New England College. The Pilgrims snapped a 3-3 deadlock in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by Brady Phillibotte, advancing to the title round through the winner's bracket.
Mitchell then punched its ticket to the title round with a 1-0 victory over third-seeded Eastern Nazarene College in the loser's bracket. Juan Abreu knocked in the game's only run with a single in the fourth inning, and pitchers Eddie Kaftan and Kevin Vining made the margin stand.
Mitchell (28-11 overall) and NEC (24-14 overall) will meet on Sunday, May 8 at noon to determine the conference champion. The Mariners, who are making their ninth-straight title round appearance, will need to beat the Pilgrims twice in order to claim the crown.
Game 4 – New England College 4, Mitchell 3
NEC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. A double by JD Normand put a pair of runners in scoring position for Connor Morin, who plated both with a double down the right-field line.
Mitchell took the lead on a three-run homer by Bo Yaworski in the third. Justin Adorno got things started with a two-out single, and after Angel Galindez drew a walk, Yaworski crushed the first pitch he saw over the fence in right field for his second homer of the tournament.
The Pilgrims tied the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Pat Hagerty. Mitchell had scoring chances in the seventh and eighth but came up empty.
In the bottom of the ninth, Luca Giallongo hit a one-out double to put the winning run in scoring position. Philibott then singled through the left side of the infield, giving Giallongo a chance to score from second. Left fielder Dougie DelaCruz threw a perfect strike to the plate, but the umpire ruled Giallongo beat the tag.
Game 5 – Mitchell 1, Eastern Nazarene 0
Hits and runs were hard to come by in the elimination game, as the two teams met for the second time in as many days. ENC starter Spencer Boynton limited the Mariners to only two hits, while Kaftan and Vining yielded four in the combined shutout.
In the bottom of the fourth, a one-out walk to Lelo Martinez was the impetus for Mitchell's only run. Martinez stole second and moved to third on a ground out by Matt Falk, setting the stage Abreu's RBI single to right field.
Kaftan (5-2 overall) was superb in his 6.0 innings of work, surrendering only three hits and not allowing a runner past first base. Vining took over in the seventh and carried the Mariners to the finish, giving up just one hit en route to his third save. Each struck out three batters and combined to walk three.
Mitchell's defense also made some big plays in the game, turning double plays in both the sixth and seventh innings to protect the one-run lead. Falk also threw out a pair of would-be base stealers, keeping the Lions honest on the base paths.
Boynton, who also turned in a terrific performance, was the hard-luck loser on the bump. He tossed 135 pitches over 8.0 innings and yielded one run on two hits. He didn't allow a leadoff batter to reach base all game, finishing with two strikeouts and four walks.
