By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the second time in as many outings the Monroe Community College baseball team finished with a doubleheader split.
Committing six errors on the afternoon and leaving 14 runners on base, MCC showed little of the inspired effort that led to a recent six-game wining streak.
Sam Loew (Binghamton) and TJ Lucey (Fairport) drove in a pair of runs apiece in the nightcap as Monroe came from behind to beat Herkimer College, 10-7.
Loew’s two-out double in the third inning scored Lucey and Evan Magill (Notre Dame Catholic/Ajax, ON) to erase a one-run deficit. Lucey collected an RBI in a five-run fourth as the the Tribunes pulled away for the victory.
Liam Devine (John F. Rossi CVI/Guelph, ON) worked two innings in relief for the win. The left-hander struck out two without a walk and improved to 3-1 on the season.
The Tribunes showed glimpses of their offensive capabilities when Ethan Pasco (Saint Paul Catholic/Niagara Falls, ON), Logan Martella-Tasick (Penfield) and Sean Flannery (Wayne) opened the home half of the fourth with three consecutive hits. MCC scored five that inning, but only managed one more hit after having bases loaded with no outs. A two-run error provided the highlight.
Magill finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored in the game. Martella-Tasick went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Flannery scored twice and drove in a run with a hit. Cas Sobaszek (Rush-Henrietta) had an RBI. Phil Ferranti (Webster Schroeder) was 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI.
In game one, Monroe squandered what was otherwise an impressive performance from Brennen Smith (Webster Thomas) in a 5-3 extra-innings loss. The southpaw took a shutout into the seventh inning before a three-base error to start the final frame put the tying run 90 feet away.
“He pitched a gem,” Monroe head coach Dave Brust said. “His location was mostly pinpoint other a couple O-2 situations which 80 percent of his batters were 0-2.”
Smith set down the next two batters on strikes and was one strike away from nailing down the complete game when pinch hitter Naije Waller singled up the middle to knot the score.
Smith fanned 10 and walked two. He did not allow a runner past second through the first five innings and faced the minimum in the second, fourth and fifth stanzas allowing just two hits.
“That was a borderline masterpiece,” Brust added. “He needed one routine fly ball to be caught and that was a gem. Before that happened, he was on pace for a 75-pitch shutout. He was one fly ball away from a 75-pitch shutout. When’s the last time Herkimer (9-2) had that done to them.
“For a collegiate pitcher, that’s one of the best performances I’ve seen in a long time.”
Herkimer added four more runs (two earned) in the eighth.
Ryan Hill (Webster Thomas) walked and scored in the third to give MCC the lead. Pasco followed Hill and reached on an error. Martella-Tasick’s sacrifice bunt was mishandled and the Tribunes had the bases loaded with no outs. Sobaszek brought in Hill with a ground ball.
Sobaszek reached on an error in the eighth. Ferranti followed with a base hit. After a balk brought in Sobaszek, Magill put runners on the corners with a single. Loew delivered a two-out single for the final count of 5-3.
Monroe (13-13) travels to Canandaigua on Thursday to take on Finger Lakes CC. A 2 PM first pitch is scheduled.
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