Johnson's Gem Leads Baseball Past Becker in NECC Championship Opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Becker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
Mitchell | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 0 |
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College and Elms College each picked up wins on the first day of play at the 2015 New England Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Starting pitcher Al Jordan Johnson allowed only two hits in a complete game shutout as top-seeded Mitchell advanced with a 4-0 victory over fourth-seeded Becker College. Neftali Arroyo omered for the Mariners (29-4 overall) while Tyler Pina and Evan Peck each knocked in runs.
Second-seeded Elms (18-15 overall) surrendered a four-run lead in the ninth but hung on to win 7-6 in 12 innings against third-seeded Lesley University. Zach Lawrence gave the Blazers the walk-off win with a base hit down the left field line to score Ben Ross.
The double-elimination tournament will continue on Saturday, May 9 with three scheduled games. Becker (15-25 overall) and Lesley (14-22 overall) will meet in an elimination game at 10 a.m. while Mitchell and Elms will battle for a spot in the title round at 1 p.m. The winner from Saturday's first game will meet the loser from the second at 4 p.m. with a title round berth hanging in the balance.
Game 1 – Mitchell 4, Becker 0
Johnson was locked in from the start and struck out the side in the first inning. He finished the game with a career-high 13 strikeouts and faced only four batters over the minimum, allowing a pair of hits while walking two.
Mitchell went up 2-0 in the second inning as Peck led off with a double and was on third base when Arroyo launched a two-out, two-run homer over the left field fence. Arroyo's blast, his team-leading fifth of the season, came on a full count.
Johnson allowed only one hit and struck out seven the first time through the Becker order. The Hawks put their first and only runner in scoring position with one out in the fourth, but Johnson got a strikeout and fly ball to escape unscathed.
The Mariners added a run in the home half of the fourth as an error and failed pick-off attempt put the leadoff batter on second base. After Mitchell sacrificed the runner over to third, Pina brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center field. In the fifth, a two-out RBI single by Peck plated Kenneth Olszewski from second base and extended the lead to 4-0.
Johnson took care of the rest for the Mariners en route to his first shutout of the season. He struck out a batter in every inning but the seventh and fanned the final batter of the game to improve to 9-0 on the season.
Samuel Stratton and T.J. Sempkowski each singled on the day for Becker. Starting pitcher Tyler Wagar went 8.0 innings and surrendered four runs (three earned) on seven hits and struck out four.
Game 2 – Elms 7, Lesley 6 (12 innings)
Elms cashed in on a pair of walks to score two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Brady Forrest and Tim Gelzinis each drew a free pass and moved into scoring position on a ground out. Forrest then came across with the game's first run on a ground out by Michael Bombard, and Gelzinis scored on a RBI single by Stephen Harrison.
The Blazers extended the lead to 3-0 in the second. Ross reached on a fielder's choice, stole second base and scored on a two-out single through the left side of the infield by Forrest.
Both teams put runners on with two outs in the third, but Lesley stranded two while Elms left the bases loaded for a scoreless frame.
The Lynx got on the scoreboard thanks to a solo homer by Gustavo Polidor with two outs in the fifth. The long ball, his first of the season, cut the deficit to 3-1 before Elms picked up three runs in the home half of the frame. Nolan Medeiros knocked in a run with a single and later scored on a wild pitch, and in between Ross legged out an infield single that kept the inning alive and scored another run.
Lesley got a run back in the sixth on a chopper over the pitcher's head by Kevin Hopwood that scored Mike Slaby from third base. In the seventh, the Lynx put two runners on with no outs, but Elms starter Sean Sinnott escaped further damage by getting a double play and strikeout to end the threat.
Sinnott issued back-to-back walks to start the eighth inning but slipped out of trouble once again. After a ground out put runners at the corners, Sinnott got a line drive to first base for an inning-ending double play with the 6-2 lead still intact.
Lesley hit up the Elms bullpen for four runs in the ninth to extend the game. The Lynx loaded the bases with one out, and after an error allowed the first run to score, Slaby brought home another on a fielder's choice. A wild pitch then made it a 6-5 game, and Casey Blanchard completed the comeback with a RBI single up the middle to tie the game.
The Blazers put the winning run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, but reliever Koby Mitchell got a fly ball to right to send the game into extra innings.
After neither side threatened in the 10th, Lesley put the go-ahead run on second base in the 11th. Elms turned the ball over to Tom Weldon to get out of the jam, and he did just that by getting a ground ball and strikeout to keep the game tied at 6-6.
A leadoff single by Joe Muratore and a sacrifice bunt gave Lesley two cracks at driving in the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th. However, Weldon kept the ball in the infield against the next two batters and once again slithered out of trouble.
There were two outs in the bottom of the 12th before Elms got things going with a pair of infield singles by Ross and Forrest. Lawrence then stepped up to the plate for the first time in the game—he was a defensive replacement at third base in the 11th—and took a 2-2 pitch down the line in left to plate the winning run.
Weldon pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief and picked up the win to improve to 7-2 on the season. Mitchell (2-4 overall) was the tough-luck loser for Lesley, surrendering one run on six hits in 7.1 innings of relief.
