By PAUL GOTHAM
GROTON, CT. — Ask Dave Brust to find a turning point in the season, and the second-year head coach hesitates. It’s been that way. Forty-plus games played. Twist and turns? One can lose count.
The Monroe Community College nine claimed the school’s 24th Region III title last weekend. This was only made possible by the squad’s ability to adapt and get to the next game.
One game at a time. Score one for cliches. How else can it be measured? Less than ten games into the campaign and the Tribunes had, in effect, lost their entire left side defense.
During the team’s trip to Arizona in early March, starting shortstop Alex Saville squared to drop a bunt and took a pitch off the thumb. The resulting broken bone put the sophomore on the shelf for the duration of the season. Eight games prior to that starting left fielder Ryan Prevost injured a bone in his hand. He missed 33 games.
That Saville was even playing short came by chance. Last year’s starter, Connor Lewis, left the team in January for personal reasons. With Lewis in the lineup, he shared the team lead playing in 47 games during the 2014 season, Saville would have manned third base. He also looked poised to fill the closer’s spot out of the bullpen. Add to that the loss of Austin Speaker (threw seven-plus shutout innings in Arizona), and the Tribs were without another reliable arm in the bullpen.
Monroe finished their southwest swing 3-9. On paper it appeared a disappointment.
“I thought we played well in Arizona,” Brust said. “We knew we could compete with anyone. We weren’t always sure of that before then.”
Monroe dropped two in walkoff fashion to Paradise Valley (38-15) who is currently ranked tenth in the country. They also split a pair with DI school Eastern Arizona and fell to another DI school, Central Arizona. Worth noting both of those schools began playing games during the first week of February and had more than 20 contests under their collective belts before tangling with the Tribs in March.
Still five of Monroe’s losses in the Grand Canyon state came by one run. A problem that Brust said was cured by “not getting into one-run games.”
Scoring runs hasn’t been a problem. Holding opposing bats in check? Maybe it wasn’t turning point as much as it was a change in perspective.
MCC returned to the friendly confines and fell 16-12 to Alfred State.
“We scored 12 runs and lost,” Brust noted. “That shouldn’t happen.”
Four walks issued by Monroe hurlers didn’t bode well. Neither did the number of Pioneer batters who got ahead in the count and were able to sit on a pitch of their liking.
“Emphasizing pitch one, strike one,” Brust explained. “Pitch ahead.”
The Tribunes have won 20 of their last 23. Tribune hurlers issued just one walk in claiming the Region III title last weekend.
Westchester Community College and UConn-Avery Point open the District championship Saturday morning. Monroe plays Westchester in the second game. An arrangement which Brust recognizes as an advantage for the Black and Gold as their opponents will have to use the ace of their staffs in game one.
“I’d be shocked if they didn’t. You gotta go with your number one.”
Blaine Farrell gets the ball for MCC against Westchester. In nine appearances, the left-hander is 5-2 with an ERA of 3.83. He is charged with holding in check one of the nation’s more potent offenses. The fourth-ranked Vikings lead the DII in on-base percentage and rank in the top ten for batting average (.356) and slugging (.502). Farrell has walked eight batters in 49-plus innings of work.
Monroe squares off with the host, Pointers of Avery Point in their second game of the day. The two are familiar foes. Monroe has played UCAP in each of its last three East District Championship appearances.
Monroe’s season almost took another detour recently when Ellington Hopkins re-injured his foot. Ironically, the setback occurred on the day Prevost returned to the lineup. Tests came back negative. Hopkins is in the lineup. Maybe the bumps in the road are behind them, and the path to Enid, Oklahoma and the NJCAA World Series lies straight ahead.
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