BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team opened up Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play on Saturday with a pair of wins against Wentworth, 4-3 & 8-2, at North Field.
GAME ONE: Endicott 4, Wentworth 3
Michael Kozlowski (Cheshire, Conn.) earned the victory (1-0) out of the pen for the Gulls via 3 1/3 innings pitched, one hit, no runs, zero walks, and a career-high five punchouts. Wentworth starter Brandon Sullivan (Quincy, Mass.) took the loss (0-2) on four innings of work, six hits, four runs (all earned), two free passes, and five strikeouts.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Endicott rallied for three runs – all via RBI singles – and let Kozlowski handle the rest to secure the win.
Matthew Robida (Chester, Conn.), Matthew McKinley (Hudson, N.H.), and Kyle Brennan (Wallingford, Conn.) all drove in runs for the Gulls in their three-run frame.
GAME TWO: Endicott 8, Wentworth 2
Cooper Anibal (Bedford, N.H.) pitched strong in his first start of the season going seven innings, while only allowing six hits, two runs (both earned), and one walk alongside six strikeouts.
Hunter Thornton (Old Lyme, Conn.) was saddled with the loss (0-1) via three innings, four hits, four runs (all earned), no walks, and one punchout.
Down 2-0 in the third inning, Endicott responded offensively as Connor Blandini (Bow, N.H.) evened up the game with a two-run triple before Brennan smashed a two-run shot to right field to take the lead for good in the contest.
The Gulls also received an RBI single from John Mulready (Peabody, Mass.) in the fourth, a two-run line drive homer by Caleb Shpur (East Canaan, Conn.) in the fifth, and an RBI groundout from Vincent Walker (Burtonsville, Md.) in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Max Tarlin (Sharon, Mass.) closed out the final two frames in near-perfect fashion striking out two while allowing zero hits and walks in his relief outing (one hit-by-pitch, 6 AB/7 BF).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORES
- Endicott is 42-9 all-time against Wentworth.
- The Gulls have won 15 straight versus the Leopards dating back to 5/2/2014.
- Shpur went 4-for-6 with three runs scored and two RBI in today's sweep. The pair of multi-hit games were the first and second of his career.
- McKinley went 3-for-3 in game two pushing his multi-hit career game total to 10 (2018 – 6 | 2019 – 1 | 2020 – 2 | 2021 – 1).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (2-1, 2-0 CCC) hosts Suffolk on Friday, April 2 for a pair of games starting at 3 PM. Wentworth (0-4, 0-2 CCC) hosts Western New England on Wednesday, March 31 at a time to be announced later.
For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
(Photo Credit - David Le '10) | BOX SCORE - GM 1 | BOX SCORE - GM 2
