Mitchell, Daniel Webster Deemed Co-Champs
NASHUA, N.H. – After splitting games on the final day of play
at the 2010 NECC Baseball Championship, both Mitchell College and
Daniel Webster College were deemed co-champions by virtue of each
team finishing with one loss.
The Mariners (17-13 overall) topped the Eagles 8-6 in the morning
to advance to the afternoon's title game. Daniel Webster (21-16
overall) went on to play in the loser's bracket, defeating Becker
College to earn a rematch with Mitchell in the finals. The Eagles
then triumphed 12-1 in the title round to hand the Mariners their
first loss of the double-elimination tournament.
Under normal circumstances, Mitchell and Daniel Webster would have
played one more game to determine an outright champion. However,
with Saturday's rain canceling all games, the schedule did not
allow for the final contest. As a result the teams shared the
conference crown.
The teams also shared co-most valuable player awards as part of the
all-tournament team (see below for the complete list). Daniel
Webster's Nick Michaud and Mitchell's Andrew Langlais
took the honors. Michaud was a one-man wrecking crew over the
three-game stretch Sunday, going a remarkable 7-for-10 at the plate
with two doubles, knocking in 11 and scoring three times. Langlais
meanwhile, hit .400 over Mitchell's three games with two RBI and
two runs scored. He was also 1-0 on the mound with a 4.20 ERA and
seven strikeouts against one walk.
Game 1 – Mitchell 8, Daniel Webster 6
Mitchell's win over Daniel Webster was a team effort, with seven
players driving in runs and eight of nine batters picking up hits.
Freshman Connor Rochefort
finished with three hits while junior Paul Martinez,
sophomore Ethan
Graynor and senior Jared Bishop each had
two.
Langlais took the ball for the Mariners and threw 6.1 innings
before turning over an 8-3 lead to junior Cody Faddis. Faddis
closed out the final 2.2 innings and gave up three runs on five
hits to secure the victory.
After falling behind 1-0 after two, Mitchell scored twice in the
third inning to take a lead it would never relinquish. Graynor tied
the game with an RBI single before Langlais drew a bases-loaded
walk to plate the go-ahead run. The Mariners increased their lead
with a three-run fourth inning, getting RBI singles from both
Rochefort and junior Jeff Perillo to
pad the lead to 5-1.
The teams traded runs in the fifth, with Szela providing an RBI
single for the Mariners that scored Langlais from second. Langlais
started the frame with a walk and moved to second on a base knock
by Bishop. Mitchell then added a pair of runs in the sixth to go up
8-3. Junior John
McGarry delivered an RBI double and later scored on a single to
right by Bishop.
Langlais gave up 11 hits but only three runs before leaving the
game in the seventh with runners on first and second with one out.
Faddis picked the team up by getting consecutive fly ball outs to
end the frame and preserve the five-run lead.
Daniel Webster struck for three runs on four hits in the eighth to
get back into the game. Trailing 8-6 heading into the bottom of the
ninth, the Eagles got the tying run to the plate before Faddis
retired the final two batters on fly balls to end the game.
Game 2 – Daniel Webster 12, Mitchell 1
The Eagles, playing their third straight game of the day, came out
swinging in the rematch. Daniel Webster pounded out 12 runs on 15
hits and got help from three Mitchell errors. Michaud led the
attack with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate and drove in four
runs.
Mitchell's only run came on an RBI single by Bishop in the fourth
inning, cutting Daniel Webster's lead to 2-1. The Eagles added a
run in their half of the fourth and then broke the game open with a
six-run fifth inning. Five of the six runs were unearned as
Mitchell committed three errors in the frame.
Daniel Webster added three runs in the eighth to put the game out
of reach. Freshman starter Garrett Cornwell
took the loss for the Mariners, allowing four runs on eight hits in
4.0 innings of work. He ended the season with an overall record of
4-3.
All Tournament Team
Rich Lizotte, Daniel Webster
Chuck Manning, Daniel Webster
Paul Martinez, Mitchell
Jeff Perillo, Mitchell
Keith Kandel, Becker
Austin Phillips, Becker
Dave Gage, Southern Vermont
Corey Armstrong, Southern Vermont
Most Valuable Players
Andrew Langlais, Mitchell
Nick Michaud, Daniel Webster
