By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, NY — Monroe Community College starter Tommy Mastrodonato coasted into the fourth inning of Saturday’s WNYAC matchup with Genesee Community College Cougars setting down 11 of the first 12 he faced.
Pounding the zone with first-pitch strikes, the Monroe hurler retired eight on ground outs and fanned two more.
MCC’s offense pushed two across the plate.
Then it all unraveled.
In the matter of one out, a lead turned into deficit.
Mastrodonato appeared to have the fourth ended when catcher Tommy LaCongo fielded a tapper at the plate and fired to first. But much to the dismay of those involved, the home plate umpire ruled the ball foul. Genesee’s Connor Barleben returned to the batter’s box. He eventually walked. An errant pickoff attempt at first put the runner in scoring position. A pair of hits and three hit batsmen later gave GCC had a 3-2 edge.
“At the end of the day that’s life in college baseball,” Monroe head coach Dave Brust said. “You gotta overcome what isn’t working out with an umpire.”
One of the batters hit by a pitch appeared to be in his swinging motion when struck on the arm
“If we gotta beat the umpires then we’re going to beat them too,” Brust added. “We’re not going to let them beat us. No chance.”
And it what can best be described as a possible turning-point-in-the-season type of performance, the Tribunes responded.
Ellington Hopkins highlighted a three-run home half of the frame as MCC recaptured the lead and never looked back.
Mastrodonato went on to retire 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.
“Adversity is part of the game,” Mastrodonato said of his approach to the remaining innings. “You gotta keep pitching your game.”
Anything less, and the Tribunes faced an 0-3 start in WNYAC play.
“We couldn’t go 0-and-3 in the conference,” Mastrodonato remarked. “We had to come back.”
The one inning aside, Mastrodonato created a rhythm and set down 13 of the 28 batters he faced with ground ball outs on the day. The only error came on his own toss to first – a throw which could have been affected by the swirling winds at Tribune Field.
“It’s an unbelievable phenomenon,” Brust said of starting batters with a strike. “You control the tempo of the game. You control the strike zone. They can’t tee off on anything they want. When Tommy’s doing that, he’s really tough to hit.”
Monroe went on to complete the sweep.
The right-hander improved to 3-1 in five starts on the season. Saturday’s seven-inning affair proved to be his third complete game of the season.
“I wasn’t trying to be too cute with my pitches as Coach Brust would say,” Mastrodonato commented. “I trust my defense and let them hit the ball, attack the zone.”
In 29 innings of work, the sophomore has struck out 26 and walked 13.
Of the 13 ground outs in game one, Hunter Merrill fielded six. The Monroe second baseman recorded the first out in the first four innings and five of six.
The Tribunes host the Ithaca College JV team on Sunday afternoon.
Genesee returns to Tribune Field, Tuesday.
Both doubleheaders have a scheduled 1 p.m. first pitch.
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