Baseball

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 2013

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
THURSDAY RECAP

WEST HAVEN, Conn. - Action continued on Friday in the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship with three games at Frank Vieira Field on the campus of the University of New Haven.

Fourth-seeded Merrimack College staved off elimination twice on Friday, first defeating second-seeded Bentley University, 4-3, in the first of three contests. The Warriors later won its second game of the day when Northeast-10 Player of the Year Casey Cotter delivered a go-ahead, two-run triple, and later scored on a Mike Forgione single, in the fifth inning of a 4-3 victory over third-seeded Le Moyne College.

The loss was Le Moyne's second of the day, as top-seeded and host New Haven cruised to a 9-5 victory Friday afternoon Le Moyne College, backed by a 13-hit attack against Dolphins pitching.

As a result, Merrimack and New Haven will square off Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. in the Northeast-10 Baseball Championship Final. The Chargers, who are 2-0 in the double-elimination portion of championship weekend, would need to lose twice on Saturday for Merrimack to claim the conference title. 

#4 Merrimack 4, #3 Le Moyne 3 – BOX
Northeast-10 Player of the Year and Casey Cotter delivered a go-ahead, two-run triple and later scored on a Mike Forgione single in the fifth inning of a 4-3 victory to avoid elimination on Friday evening.

Merrimack reliever Beau Batchelor came on in relief of starting pitcher Junior Vasquez to begin the seventh, trying to protect a 4-2 lead. But Le Moyne recorded a pair of singles and drew a walk to load the bases, and Ryan Mahoney lofted a bloop base hit into right to plate one to make it a one-run game.

At that point, Merrimack head coach Jim Martin called upon designated hitterJoe Mantoni to escape the jam. Mantoni, inheriting a bases-loaded, one-out jam, struck out Kody O'Connor and Brian Stinson to strike out swinging.

Mantoni also got Stinson swinging in the ninth with the tying run in scoring position at second.

Vasquez recorded the victory for Merrimack after allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and five walks over six innings.

Down 2-1, Merrimack rightfielder Sean O'Neill led off the fifth with a double before catcher Pat Florence followed with a bunt single on a sacrifice attempt. Cotter and Forgione then delivered their key hits for a 4-2 lead. 

Earlier, Mahoney singled home a pair in the third to give Le Moyne a 2-0 lead. The Warriors got on the board in the fourth afterMantoni scored an error by following a leadoff double, cutting the Dolphins' lead at the time to 2-1.

#1 SW New Haven 9, #3 SW Le Moyne 5 – BOX
New Haven had five players with multi-hit performances on Friday, including a 3-for-5 showing by designated hitter Chris DeMorais. Catcher Joe Romanelli was 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI, while rightfielder Stephen Clout, first baseman Zach Collett and third baseman Brendon Buckley all had two hits apiece as well. 

Le Moyne starting pitcher Casey Cannon was touched for nine runs – six earned – on 12 hits over five innings of work, as New Haven staked itself to a 5-0 lead after the first two innings.

New Haven lefthander Joey Royer earned the win in relief,allowing two runs on six hits over the final five innings to nail down the win. Chargers starter John Melville allowed three runs – one earned – on just one hit over four innings, but did not go long enough to record the victory.

New Haven got out to a 5-0 lead by scoring twice in the first and three times in the second. In the first, two scored on a costly two-out error by Le Moyne second baseman Vincent Redmond. The following inning, centerfielder Brendan O'Reilly had a sac fly and Romanelli drove in a pair with a double.

In the top of the third for Le Moyne, Redmond delivered an RBI single and Zack Wiley had a sac fly to make it 5-2, but New Haven went on to score again in the third on an RBI triple by Buckley. The Dolphins scored another in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Nate Reynolds.

New Haven continued its offensive onslaught the next two frames, scoring twice more in the fourth on a single by Collett and an error and once more in the fifth on a Romanelli RBI double.

Le Moyne catcher Brian Stinson added a two-run homer in the ninth, while first baseman Paul Speicher led the Dolphins with two hits.

#4 NE Merrimack 3, #2 NE Bentley 2 – BOX
Starting pitcher Joe Carnevale allowed one run on four hits over six innings to lead Merrimack to its 3-2 victory over Bentley on Friday morning, while reliever Joe Mantoni went the final 2.1 innings for his seventh save of the year, striking out three without allowing a baserunner.

For the Warriors, centerfielder Mark O'Flynn and rightfielder Sean O'Neill had two hits apiece.

Bentley starting pitcher Jeff Croteau, a Second Team All-Conference selection this year, was the tough-luck loser for the Falcons. The righthander allowed three runs – one earned – on seven hits over eight innings of work.

Bentley, which which left 10 men on base and went just 1-for-11 with runners on, was led by centerfielder Sean Keady, who went 2-for-4 with a run. 

Merrimack (pictured, right) pushed two runs across with two outs in the top of the third. With Casey Cotter aboard at second after a walk and a steal and Alan Pastrynak Jr. at third, Mike Forgione bounced one over mound for a base hit to plate Pastyrnak, and Cotter was able to score as well when Bentley shortstop Will Brennan was unable to handle it cleanly. Both runs were unearned for Croteau.

Bentley got one back in the bottom half of the third on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Logan Gillis. 

In the seventh, the Warriors added their third run of the morning following three straight two-hit singles, culminating with an RBI knock by Pat Florence.

Merrimack reliever Beau Batchelor came on in the seventh for Carnevale, but Bentley promptly loaded the bases with one out on a pair of singles and a walk. Falcons catcher Kevin Korwek plated a run to make it 3-2 on a sac fly, and Batchelor was lifted for Mantoni after another walk.

But Mantoni, who began the game as Merrimack's designated hitter, punched out Nate Witkowski looking to escape the bases-loaded threat. 

The Warriors had an opportunity to add some insurance in the top half of the ninth, but Bentley reliever Lamarre Rey got Cotter to fly out with the bases loaded to keep it 3-2.

The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that are committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.

Championship Weekend
Thursday, May 9 | RECAP
Game 5: #1 SW New Haven 4, #2 NE Bentley 3 - 11 innings | BOX
Game 6: #3 SW Le Moyne 8, #4 NE Merrimack 0 | BOX

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