Photo Courtesy: Mark Sutherlin
BENNINGTON, Vt. - The Southern Vermont baseball team split a New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader with Elms College at Epstein Field Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers dominated the first game winning 8-5 with the help of Captain Dan Cook's (Watervliet, N.Y.) three run homer in the first inning. SVC faced EC's ace in the second game falling 10-2.
In game one of the NECC doubleheader the Blazers (10-11 overall, 3-3 NECC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when third baseman Brian Marrero hit a sac fly to centerfield scoring Brendan Cordeiro who had got on base on a Mountaineers (8-16 overall, 5-1 NECC) error. Captain Dave Gage (Gloversville, N.Y.) singled to leadoff what would be a three run SVC inning. The next batter Brett Pawlak (Shelton, Conn.) singled giving Southern Vermont runners on second and first. Cook smoked a three run shot over the centerfield fence giving the Mountaineers a 3-1 lead heading into the second inning.
After a scoreless second for Elms College the SVC squad started out the inning with Gage reaching on an error by the Blazers first baseman. Cook walked to give the Mountaineers two on when Captain Adam Northup (Richmond, R.I.) sent a shot to the gap for two run triple. A few batters later Pat Warrington (Folcroft, Pa.) found a gap for standup RBI double giving the Southern Vermont a 6-1 lead after two innings.
The Blazers offense started to see starter Tim Johnson (Bernardsville, N.J.) better when Donald Morse cracked a solo homerun to make it 6-2. A wild pitch by Johnson gave Cordeiro enough time to advance to home making it 6-3 still in Southern Vermont's favor.
After several scoreless innings for both squads the Mountaineers put two more on the board when freshman Eric Wells (Athens, Pa.) blasted a two run homerun to right field. Elms cut the lead to three with a two run homerun of their own by the short stop Jon Ortiz in the next inning.
SVC held off Elms with a 1-2-3 seventh inning giving them the 8-5 win. Johnson (2-3) got the complete game win striking out three and giving up five runs for Southern Vermont. Dan Ingraham (2-3) picked up the loss pitching one and a third; striking out four and walking two. Reliever Mike Bieber pitched the remainder of the game for the Blazers striking out seven Mountaineers and giving up two runs.
Cook led SVC going 2-for-3 with three RBI's and two runs scored. Gage, Pawlak, Northup, Wells, and Warrington each had a hit for the Mountaineers.
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Elms kicked off the second game with two run first inning when right fielder Zach Cerra lined a two run single into right field. The Mountaineers left two stranded in the first giving the Blazers a 2-0 lead heading into the second inning.
Bob Reyome hit a solo shot to right to kick off the second inning giving Elms a 3-0 cushion. Warrington, who had reached on an error, scored when Blazers left fielder Nick Mackowiak dropped a fly ball hit by Ian Valentine to put the Mountaineers on the board.
In the third inning Cerra got an RBI on a groundout to the first baseman that saw Ortiz cross home plate. A scoreless third for the SVC and Elms was back at it as Felix Montalvo stole home on a sacrifice bunt gone wrong. EC led after four innings with a score of 5-1.
In the fifth starting pitcher Northup started off on the right foot striking out Nicolino Iavicoli, Elms three spot hitter. The next batter, Ortiz, took Northup long over the right fence for a solo homerun to give the Blazers a 6-1 lead heading into the sixth.
A single by Cordeiro with two outs in the sixth sparked the Elms offense once again in what would be a four run inning giving the Blazers a 10-1 lead. The Mountaineers were not down for the count getting the bases loaded on two walks and an error by the EC third baseman in the bottom of the sixth. Starting pitcher Matt Wood got the Blazers out of trouble striking out two in a row to end the threat.
Warrington got an RBI in the seventh with an Elms error bringing home Cook who had walked to start off the inning. Will Warner (Waterford, Conn.), who relieved Northup in the sixth, pitched one and a third of scoreless ball to finish up the game for the Mountaineers. The 10-2 final gave the teams a split with Elms who is resting in third place in the NECC; while SVC is tied with Becker College with a 5-1 Conference record.
Pawlak, Cook, and Ian Valentine (Newfield, N.Y.) each had a hit for the Mountaineers.
Adam Northup (3-2) pitched five and two thirds innings, striking out three and walking four for Southern Vermont. Matt Wood (2-2) pitched six innings picking up the win while striking out nine and walking seven for the Blazers.
The Mountaineers hit the road for a non-conference game against Castleton State College Tuesday, April 15, at 3:30 p.m.