Springfield, Mass. – Needing two
victories over the \#2 seed Endicott, the top-seeded Western New
England Golden Bears did just that, beating the Gulls 5-4 in both
games one and two to capture their fourth straight TCCC title.
\#1 Western New England 5, \#2 Endicott 4 (Game Two)
Boxscore
Endicott (30-15) put runners on first and second base with no outs
in their final at bat down only one, but was unable to plate the
game-tying run. Six different players recorded at least two hits
with senior captain Chris Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.) leading the
charge with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with two RBI. The Gulls had
15 hits as a team.
Endicott put themselves ahead 2-0 with runs in the top of the
third and fourth innings. Dominguez drove home junior catcher
Robbie Goldstick (Deerfield, Ill.) with a single up in the middle
in the third then sophomore Mike Griffin (Arlington, Mass.) found
the outfield grass in left field to score Colin Sitarz (West
Hartford, Conn.) who had reached on a double earlier in the
inning.
The Golden Bears (38-9) came right back in the bottom of the
fourth with two runs to even the score at 2-2. Mike Taylor’s
(Andover, Mass.) infield single and Casey Dadio (Branford, Conn.)
hit up the middle both brought in runs for the home team. Both runs
were charged to Endicott’s starting pitcher Mike Nich
(Orange, Conn.) who went 3 2/3 innings on the mound.
Western New England’s two runs in the bottom of the fourth
was the first of three straight innings in which the Golden Bears
scored runs. In the fifth, sophomore Matt Anthonis (Guilford,
Conn.) singled home a run and in the sixth, Andrew Fatse (Hampden,
Mass.) and Tim Clark (West Springfield, Mass.) both had RBI doubles
to push the Golden Bears lead to 5-2.
The Blue and Green got runs back in the top of the seventh and the
top of the eight to pull within a run. In the seventh, freshman
centerfielder Tad Gold (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.) had an
infield single that brought home Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.)
from third. The next inning saw Dominguez get his second RBI of the
game on a single to left field that brought home Goldstick for the
second time in the game.
The Gulls started off the top of the ninth with back-to-back
singles by Jake Northrup (Boxborough, Mass.) and Sitarz, but after
a fly out to center the game and the tournament would end on 6-4-3
double play.
Gulls sophomore Kevin Dupras (Belchertown, Mass.) pitched 2 2/3
innings of one-hit ball with a strikeout, but freshman Drew Dumas
(Holden, Mass.) took the loss to fall to 2-1 on the season. Western
New England’s Evan Michaud (Windsor Locks, Conn.) was
effective in relief, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits
and a walk while striking out four to improve to 7-0.
\#1 Western New England 5, \#2 Endicott 4 (Game One)
Boxscore
The Blue and Green (30-14) scored once in each of the first three
innings to take a 3-0 lead, but the \#1 seed Western New England
(37-9) rallied to score the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the
seventh and eighth innings to win 5-4 over the \#2 seed Endicott.
The victory for the Golden Bears forced a winner-take-all, game two
to decide the 2011 TCCC Baseball Championship.
Endicott second baseman Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) hit a
sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Danny Mello (Peabody,
Mass.) in the top of the first to put the Gulls up 1-0. Mello had
doubled to lead off the game and advanced to third on a
groundout.
In the top of the second, Endicott put runners on second and third
base with one out when junior outfielder Mike Russo (Natick, Mass.)
grounded out to second base to bring home Colin Sitarz (West
Hartford, Conn.) from third.
The Gulls added their third run of the ball game in the top of the
third inning on a RBI single to center by freshman Jake Northrup
(Boxborough, Mass.) that scored captain Chris Dominguez (Braintree,
Mass.).
Endicott’s starting pitcher, sophomore Brendan Pittsley
(Plympton, Mass.) cruised through the first two innings until the
Golden Bears trimmed to Gulls lead down to 3-1 on an infield error
that plated sophomore Kyle McKelvey (Schenectady, N.Y.) from third
base. Pittsley would surrender another unearned run on a Mike
Taylor (Andover, Mass.) line out to right that scored Western New
England’s second run of the game.
Pittsley pitched into the fifth inning, leaving runners on first
and third with one out for Benjamin Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.).
Pittsley finished with a line of 4 1/3 innings pitched, three runs,
one earned, on five hits and two walks with a strikeout. The third
run charged to Pittsley was due to a sacrifice fly on the first
batter Petrides faced that brought home the runner from third
base.
Now tied 3-3 going into the sixth inning, the Gulls responded in a
big way as Northrup crushed a homerun to left field to put Endicott
up 4-3. The homerun was Northrup’s fourth of the season. He
finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.
The Golden Bears even the score at four runs apiece in the bottom
of the seventh on a Matt Anthonis (Guilford, Conn.) RBI single to
right field. Western New England took the lead for good in the
bottom half of the next inning on a single through the right side
of the infield by sophomore Tim Clark (West Springfield,
Mass.).
Western New England went on to win 5-4 as Mike Lawlor (Windsor,
Conn.) pitched five innings of relief to get the win. Lawlor (3-1)
struck out five while allowing just one run on two hits with no
walks. Gulls junior Mike Nich (Orange, Conn.) took the loss,
falling to 6-4 on the season. Nich went 1 1/3 innings, giving up
one unearned run on two hits with one strikeout.