Mitchell College Defeats Becker In NECC Baseball Championship

Mitchell College hosted two games on Saturday in the 2011 New England Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship and defeated Becker College 15-12. Southern Vermont College moves to the title round after defeating Daniel Webster College. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College:

The loss dropped Daniel Webster into the loser’s bracket, where they were supposed to take on top-seeded Mitchell in Saturday’s third game. Due to the length of the first two games, the third game has been postponed until Sunday at 11 a.m. The winner of that game will then meet Southern Vermont in the title round at 3 p.m. If needed, the final game of the double-elimination tournament would be played on Monday.

Game One – Mitchell 15, Becker 12

Mitchell (20-9-1 overall) remained alive by eliminating second-seeded Becker (22-11 overall) in a nine-inning affair that lasted nearly four hours. The Mariners move on to play Daniel Webster, a team they swept in three regular season meetings.

Jeff Perillo (Newington, Conn./Newington) had a four-hit day for Mitchell while Mike Marcello (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) finished with four hits for Becker. Osmer Collado (New York, N.Y./St. Agnes) also had a big day for the Mariners, going 3-for-4 with a homer, three RBI and four runs scored.

Mitchell put up four runs in the first inning to jump on top early. Collado delivered the big hit in the frame with a two-run single while Felix Colarte (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) also plated a run with a base hit.

Becker cut the deficit in half with a two-run second inning that was highlighted by a sacrifice fly by Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern). The teams then traded runs in the third, with Collado supplying a solo homer in the top of the frame and Weston Meehan (Thomson, Ga./Thomson) driving in a run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom.

The Hawks rallied to tie the game at 5-5 in the fourth and could have had more in the frame. After Joe Corey (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) and Keith Kandel (Fresno, Calif./Edison) each drove in runs, Mitchell starter Paul Martinez (New London, Conn./New London) escaped a first-and-third jam by getting an inning-ending double play.

Mitchell quickly broke the tie with four runs in the fifth. The Mariners took the lead for good on a RBI single by Anthony Santiago (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) and added another run when Colarte was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Designated hitter Gus Maclao then tacked on two more runs with a single to cap the rally and give Mitchell a 9-5 advantage.

The Mariners went up 11-5 in the sixth and added four more runs in the seventh to take their biggest lead at 15-8. The Hawks scored two in the seventh and two more in the ninth, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Every Mitchell starter and all but one Becker starter finished with a hit in the contest. The teams combined for 33 hits and stranded 24 runners.

Martinez worked 7.0 innings and allowed nine runs (six earned) in the win. He struck out five and walked three to improve to 6-2 on the season. Becker starter Jheremy Brown (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) took the loss for Becker and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in 4.1 innings. He finished with five strikeouts and five walks. Becker used a total of six pitchers in the game and issued 10 walks as a staff.

Game Two – Southern Vermont 7, Daniel Webster 4

Adam Northup (Richmond, R.I./Chariho Regional) hit a walk-off, three-run homer to send the Mountaineers (18-20 overall) to the title round for the first time in school history. He went deep on a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth after Daniel Webster (20-14 overall) had rallied to tie the score in the top of the frame. It was his fourth homer of the season.

The Eagles trailed 4-2 heading into the final inning but tied things up on a one-out, two-run triple by Bruce Brown (Lowell, Mass./Gr. Lowell Tech./NECC). SVC closer Dave Gage (Gloversville, N.Y./Broadalbin-Perth) recovered to nail down the final two outs and stranded the go-ahead run 90 feet away.

The Mountaineers scored two runs in the third inning to take the early lead. Dave Northup (Richmond, R.I./Chariho Regional) scored on a double play with the first run and Corey Armstrong (Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) followed with a RBI single to score Gage.

The Eagles answered right back with a pair of runs in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. Starting pitcher Korey LeLievre (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) tripled to lead off the frame and scored on a single by Rich Lizotte (West Warwick, R.I./West Warwick). Lizotte later scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly to left by Darrik Marstaller (Spofford, N.H./Keene).

Southern Vermont took the lead back in the fifth when Dave Northup led off with a solo home run, his second of both the tournament and the season. The Mountaineers also picked up a run in the seventh when Dave Northup scored from second base on a failed pickoff attempt.

Neither starting pitcher factored into the decision. LeLievre went 7.0 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits and struck out five while walking one. SVC starter Ben Naaktgeboren (Cambridge, N.Y./Cambridge) lasted 6.0 innings and allowed two runs on six hits while walking four and striking out eight. Gage (1-1 overall) picked up the win in relief while Lizotte (0-3 overall) took the loss.