By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — When Gavin D’Apice led off the season with a home run, it was fair to think that the Greece Athena Trojans would have frequent displays of power in the future.
That was March 30th.
A dozen games later and the Trojans were still looking for that elusive second round-tripper.
The drought ended on Monday.
And the wait for the squad’s third and fourth round-trippers of the season wasn’t nearly as long.
Trace Brewer blasted a pair of home runs, and Athena (3-12) cruised past crosstown rival, Greece Arcadia (3-10), 14-6 in Monroe County Division III action on Monday.
Brewer connected on a fastball out over the plate for a two-run shot in the first inning when Athena took a lead it did not surrender at 3-0.
“I felt like I hit it pretty hard, but I wanted to get out of the box,” the senior left fielder said. “Then I looked up at it and it was over.”
Brewer’s second home run of the game and second of his career highlighted a six-run fifth inning when Athena put the game out of reach.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM LAURA ACCIAIO.
Brewer came to the plate with teammate Chase Sullivan on second.
“I was just thinking, swing hard, try to get the ball to the right side, so I can move the runner,” he said. “I guess I moved him over.”
Brewer’s blast cleared the fence in right center.
“He’s a great kid,” said Athena head coach Tim Sova. “He struggled early in the year. I think he was actually trying to go oppo too much, and he was late. So I just told him to work on getting on time. He’s been doing that. He’s a strong kid. Kids like him barrel one, and it’s gonna go.”
Brewer had two of three home runs on the day for Athena.
Jacob Dewyea had lift off in the third when the Trojans took a 6-1 lead.
The win was the second straight for Athena which had dropped a dozen straight decisions to open the season.
“I told them, coming into this, I don’t want to focus so much on the win as I want to focus on getting some momentum going, where we’re starting to do the right things,” Sova said. “I just want to keep doing that. I told them if we keep doing that, then I think the wins will take care of themselves. You can play better than somebody else and still lose. So let’s focus on doing the right things, because our record is not gonna be great at the end of the year, regardless. So, let’s get momentum going, and maybe we can do something in sectionals.”
Chase Sullivan struck out two and allowed an unearned run on one hit and five walks over three innings of relief.
Colten Waterman fanned all three batters he faced in a scoreless inning of work.
“We’re just really trying to get everybody locked into a good spot,” Sova said. “We’re getting better, little by little. And hopefully, we can finish out strong. Keep that momentum going.”
Sullivan finished 2-3 at the plate with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Dewyea was 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Joseph Nucci had a pair of hits and scored once. Anthony Butera singled, walked and crossed home twice. Svante Perez accounted for a base hit, an RBI and a run scored.
Arcadia’s Blake DeForest and Ryan Bailey had two hits apiece. Bailey doubled, drove in a run and scored once. The senior third baseman also drew a pair of walks. DeForest drove in a pair of runs.
Julio Sosa and Joe Zona both walked twice and scored twice. Chris Walter drove in a run and also scored.
The same two teams meet Wednesday at Athena. A 4:30 PM first pitch is scheduled.
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