April 29, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - The Gulls are through to the CCC championship game tomorrow as they defeated the Crusaders of Eastern Nazarene College this afternoon 10-6. They defeated the Crusaders in the second game of the day after dropping the first game 6-1. The Gulls will play the Hawks of Roger Williams University tomorrow at 12:00pm at home.
The Crusaders were able to stave off elimination for one game when junior Brad Mountain (Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May Regional) threw a four-hitter while striking out nine. Mountain allowed the sole run in the seventh inning when Gulls freshman Joe Paciello (Worcester, MA/St. Peter Marian) scored on sophomore Adam Labbe's (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill Regional) double down the right field line. The other hits by the Gulls were recorded by Paciello, junior Joe Orlando (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) and sophomore Gavin Softic (Athol, MA/Cushing Academy).
The Crusaders offense in the first game was fueled by junior A.J. Turner (Wrentham, MA/King Philip Regional) who went 3-5 with a double, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Senior Matt Watson (Pepperell, MA/North Middlesex Regional) had a triple and two RBI's while fellow senior Graham Crain (Hamilton, OH/Stephen T. Badin) went 2-4 with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored.
In the second game of the day, the Gulls were able to put together two big innings of offensive production in which they scored a combined nine runs in the fourth and seventh innings. Gulls were able to get production from Orlando who went 3-5 with two doubles, two RBI's and a run scored. Labbe continued his hot hitting on the day by going 3-4 in the second game with three RBI's and two runs scored while senior Kevin Donahue (Reading, MA/Reading) went 2-3 with two runs scored.
Leading the way for the Crusaders offensively in the second game was Watson who went 2-4 with an RBI and sophomore Jarred Weidenroth (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) who went 3-4 with two RBI's and a stolen base.
The Gulls were able to get a strong pitching performance by senior Matt Bishop (Woburn, MA/Woburn) who allowed just three runs over eight innings of work while striking out four. Bishop was relieved in the ninth by freshman Mike Wells (South Portland, ME/South Portland) when the Crusaders made a short run but it would not be enough. The Crusaders scored three runs in the top of the ninth before Wells was able to get freshman Shawn Bohannon (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) to ground out to Labbe to end the game.
With the win the Gulls advance to their third CCC championship game in four years. Roger Williams is the Gulls third different opponent in the games as they previously played Salve Regina University and Nichols College. First pitch in the game tomorrow is scheduled for 12:00pm at home.
