Golden Bears to meet Curry in tournament final
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The mark of a good team is to bounce back from a tough loss and that's what Western New England College did Saturday (May 2) in advancing to the championship game of The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Baseball Tournament.
The Golden Bears dropped a hard-luck 9-8 decision to Roger Williams in a morning contest, then rallied for an 8-4 victory over the Hawks to advance to the final for the second straight season.
Western New England College (28-15) scored single runs in the first three innings before stretching its lead to 6-0 after scoring three times in the fourth.
Junior first baseman Joe Griglun (Southington, CT) paced the 17-hit attack with a three singles, a double, run scored, and two runs-batted-in.
Junior shortstop Justin Walz (Groton, CT) and sophomore second baseman Andrew Fatse (Hampden, MA) each contributed three hits. Fatse had a triple and pair of RBI while Walz completed the day by reaching base eight times in the doubleheader.
Junior Matt Rogers (Portsmouth, RI) pitched seven innings and gave up six hits and three runs with three walks and seven strikeouts. He raised his record to 5-3. Senior Bryan Calzone (Bethel, CT) went the final two innings in his first relief appearance of the season.
In the first game, WNEC couldn't hold leads of 3-0 and 5-4 in suffering its first loss in four outings in the double elimination tournament.
Junior rightfielder Steve Kearney (Glastonbury, CT) went 3-for-4 with four runs-batted-in and a run scored.
Sophomore third baseman Tony Trubia (Tolland, CT) also collected three hits while senior leftfielder Mike Beck (Whitesboro, MA) added two runs with two runs scored, and an RBI.
Walz doubled, walked three times, and had a sacrifice..
RWU scored the winning run in the ninth following two outs on a RBI double by freshman designated hitter Tim Georgen (Bristol, CT).
Senior centerfielder Jamie Dahill (South Boston, MA) contributed four hits, including a double and three RBI. He added a pair of hits in the second game to complete a six-hit day at the plate.
The contest featured two pitchers, WNEC freshman Mark DiTommaso (Hebron, CT) (6-0) and RWU senior Brian Hurld (South Boston, MA) who entered the game with a combined 12-1 record. Both left in the fourth inning and neither figured in the decision.
Western New England College, the second seed in the tournament, will visit top-seeded Curry at 1:00 p.m. Sunday (May 3) in the title game. The Colonels (34-6) took a pair from Endicott 6-2 and 15-1 to avoid elimination.
Roger Williams (20-19-1) was the third-seeded team while Endicott was fifth.
