Baseball

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 11, 2013

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX

WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Top seed and host University of New Haven claimed its first-ever Northeast-10 Baseball Championship on Saturday afternoon by defeating fourth-seeded Merrimack College, 6-4, at Frank Vieira Field.

Merrimack won three elimination games in a 28-hour span, including a 6-0 shutout Saturday morning over New Haven, to force a second game against the Chargers on Saturday.

The Warriors improved to 30-19 on the season with their 4-2 showing in championship play, and now await Sunday night's online selection show about a possible NCAA at-large berth. New Haven is guaranteed a spot with the automatic qualifier by virtue of winning the conference title.

Chargers starting pitcher Frank Vilacha retired 13 straight at one point to get the win on the mound, as the righthander bounced back after surrendering four runs on five hits in the first inning. Closer Peter Jay got the final six outs for the save in the title game and was named Most Valuable Player of the championship.

Rightfielder Stephen Clout, catcher Joe Romanelli and third baseman Brendon Buckley had two hits apiece in the victory.

Following a four-run first inning by Merrimack, New Haven scored five unanswered to take the lead in the early innings. The Chargers later added an insurance run in the eighth on a wild pitch.

New Haven leftfielder Kyle Cullen tripled and scored in the second on a sac fly by second baseman Andrew Johnson to make it 4-1.

Then in the third, the Chargers cut the deficit to just one on an RBI single by centerfielder Brendan O'Reilly and a sac fly by designated hitter Chris DeMorais.

New Haven then took the lead with two more in the fifth. The Chargers tied it at 4-4 when Buckley's RBI single scored Johnson, and Buckley later scored on Clout's base hit.

Merrimack accounted for its four-run first on five hits and a pair of errors against Valacha. Frank Crinella plated Northeast-10 Player of the Year Casey Cotter with a groundout, Joe Mantoni doubled and scored on an error, Eddie Newton singled and later stole home, and Mark O'Flynn singled and scored on an Alex Pastyrnak Jr. double.

In the first game on Saturday, Merrimack starting pitcher Alek Morency threw a seven-hit shutout to stave off elimination for the Warriors. The junior righthander struck out eight and walked only one in the victory, silencing a New Haven offense that had scored 18 runs in three Northeast-10 Championship contests dating back to Tuesday.

O'Flynn was 2-for-4, while seven other Warriors got into the hit column in Game 1.

Merrimack loaded the bases against New Haven starter Pat Simone in the fifth, and scored the game's first run when Simone uncorked a wild pitch.

Simone allowed three runs – one earned – on five hits over seven innings to take the loss. Offensively, the Chargers got a 2-for-4 showing from Romanelli.

The Warriors added two in the seventh. Pastyrnak singled and later came around to score on a two-base throwing error by O'Reilly, then another scored on a sac fly by Cotter. 

In the eighth against New Haven reliever Connor Moriarty, Crinella and Mantoni began the inning with back-to-back singles. Crinella later scored on a wild pitch and Mantoni came around on anO'Flynn RBI single.

Merrimack added another in the ninth after Cotter singled and later scored on an RBI groundout by Crinella.

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.

2013 Northeast-10 Baseball All-Championship Team
JP Ashline, Bentley
Kevin Carroll, Le Moyne
Joe Mantoni, Merrimack
Alek Morency, Merrimack
Peter Jay, New Haven
Brendan O'Reilly, New Haven
Pat Simone, New Haven

Most Valuable Player – Peter Jay, New Haven

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