By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Facing the prospects of a four-game losing streak Monroe Community College’s baseball team rebounded for a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon.
Monroe’s offense struck early and a quartet of pitchers combined on a one-hitter as MCC (14-11/0-2) took game two (3-1) of a twinbill with the Ithaca College (JV) Bombers at Tribune Field.
Brett Sanders (Greece, N.Y./Greece Olympia) singled and scored the eventual game-winning run in the third inning. The sophomore infielder’s bounding ball plated Connor Lewis (Brampton, Ontario/St. Marguerite d’Youville) to tie the score, and he came around on a pair of Ithaca errors.
“It was a rough day,” Sanders said referring to the game one loss. “It was the least I could do right there to get some motivation.
Lewis started the frame with a base on balls. Ryan Prevost (Greece, N.Y./Greece Athena) set up the RBI with a sacrifice bunt.
“It gets the job done,” Prevost said of the sacrifice. “Just got to relax and play through yourself…The results happen.”
Aaron Endres (Chittenango, N.Y./Chittenango) and Sjaghbar Martis (Willemstad, Curacao/ Trinity Christian Academy) both reached on errors.
Cameron Scalzo (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) started and went two innings. The right-hander struck out three of the seven batters faced.
Chevy Maira (Chili, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) came out of the bullpen and hurled three stanzas. The sophomore retired six straight between the third and fifth innings.
Ryan Quackenbush (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) tossed a scoreless sixth.
David Lawrence (Brighton, N.Y./Brighton) closed the game with a strike out.
Monroe added an insurance run in the fifth. Prevost drilled a triple to straight-away center and came home on a Jimmy Latona (Chili, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) sacrifice fly.
“Coach told me ‘stop thinking about mechanics, just relax and drive the ball,’” Prevost noted. “That’s what I did. Just saw and drove it.”
Ithaca took advantage of Monroe’s generosity and grabbed game one 10-9. Three Tribune errors contributed to four Ithaca runs in the visitor’s final at bat.
“My hat’s off to the Ithaca JV,” Monroe coach Dave Brust said. “They play hard. They play smart. They make routine plays consistently. We do things intermittently.”
Alex Valenzano started the seventh with a walk. Pat Curran singled to left, and the next three batters reached on fielding miscues. Alex Ludel knotted the score at nine with a base hit. Sean Crowell scored the winning run when Mike Rotondo reached on a fielder’s choice.
Monroe jumped to a 5-0 lead after two. Latona drove in a run with a hit. Endres walked and scored on a Jon Simmons (Victor, N.Y./Victor) triple.
Sanders doubled and scored on a Hunter Merrill (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) single to open the second. Merrill swiped a bag and came home when Lewis reached on an error. Endres made it 5-0 with an RBI base hit.
Ithaca made use of an error and two walks to knot the score at five in the fourth. Rotondo capped the inning with a double to plate a pair.
Lewis double home two in the bottom half as the Black and Gold regained the advantage.
Simmons doubled and scored in a two-run fifth as the Tribs held a 9-6 edge.
“Overall, a win is a win,” Sanders commented. “You got to come out here for seven innings. As a sophomore you got to step up to light a fire under these freshmen. You got to make the plays.”
“Our job as coaches is to get them to be consistent, fundamental baseball players,” Brust noted.
Simmons had a triple and a double on the afternoon.
Endres collected four hits including a triple and a pair of two-baggers.
The Tribunes dropped two to Mercyhurst NE on Thursday.
Monroe hosts Genesee CC Sunday in Western New York Athletic Conference action. First Pitch at Tribune Field is scheduled for 1 pm.
Leave a Reply