Mitchell College Sports Roundup

Mitchell College came out on top in the NECC regular standings and has advanced the semifinals of the NECC Men's Tennis Championship. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College:

Baseball: Southern Vermont College 4, Mitchell 1; Mitchell 12, Southern Vermont College 3

The Mitchell College baseball team clinched first place in the NECC regular season standings on Saturday afternoon by splitting a doubleheader at Southern Vermont College, falling 4-1 in the first game before bouncing back for a 12-3 win in the nightcap.

Mitchell also earned the top seed and the right to host the 2011 NECC Baseball Championship. The top four teams in the regular season standings will qualify for the double-elimination tournament, which is set to run May 6-8. More details will be released once the tournament field has been determined.

Senior right-hander John Apostolo (Queens, N.Y./St. Mary’s) baffled the Mountaineers in the second game to earn the clinching victory. He struck out a season-high 12 batters and scattered five hits over 7.0 innings, allowing only one earned run to become the only pitcher in the NECC with a perfect 6-0 record in conference action.

Mitchell (19-7-1 overall, 14-3 NECC) and Southern Vermont (15-20 overall, 9-8 NECC) will wrap up regular season play with a single nine-inning game on Sunday, May 1 beginning at noon.

Game One – Southern Vermont 4, Mitchell 1

Southern Vermont’s Devin Rhodes held the Mariners to one run on six hits in the opener, striking out seven while going the distance. Mitchell starter Paul Martinez (New London, Conn./New London) took a 1-0 lead into the fifth before the Mountaineers rallied for four runs. Martinez finished with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings and allowed four runs on eight hits.

Mitchell scored its lone run in the top of the fifth. Senior Drew Rossi (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) led off the frame with a double and moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt by classmate John McGarry (Waterford, Conn./Waterford). Senior Jeff Perillo (Newington, Conn./Newington) then brought Rossi home with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

The Mountaineers scored four in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. Martinez didn’t help his own cause, issuing three walks and hitting a batter to keep the inning alive.

Rossi and senior Carlos Hughes (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) each finished with a pair of hits for the Mariners. Apostolo went 0-for-2 with a walk at the plate and had his 19-game hitting streak snapped.

Game Two – Mitchell 12, Southern Vermont 3

Apostolo got back on track in the second game, delivering a RBI single in the first inning to put the Mariners on the scoreboard. Mitchell plated a total of three runs in the frame as junior Felix Colarte (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) followed with a RBI ground out and sophomore Osmer Collado (New York, N.Y./St. Agnes Boys) drove in Apostolo with a single to right.

Apostolo got off to a rough start on the hill, allowing three runs on three hits in the first inning as Southern Vermont tied the game at 3-3. The Mitchell defense also committed an error during the frame to add fuel to the fire.

The Mariners responded with three more runs in the second to get back on track. The rally started with two outs when freshman Anthony Santiago (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) and Apostolo each singled, and Colarte followed with a base hit to plate a run. After a SVC error kept the inning alive, Hughes and junior Gus Maclao (Miami, Fla./Pace) each drew bases-loaded walks to bring in two runs.

Apostolo took the 6-3 lead and quickly settled into a groove on the mound. He retired 18 of the last 21 batters he faced and allowed only two more hits over the final six innings.

Colarte added another RBI single in a two-run third inning, and the Mariners put up four runs in the fourth to extend the lead to 11-3. Mitchell tacked on the final run of the game in the sixth on a RBI double by Santiago, his fourth hit of the contest. Colarte finished the game with three hits and three RBI while Hughes and Rossi both added a pair of hits.

Men's Tennis

Nearly all the top seeds advanced in semifinals action at the 2011 New England Collegiate Conference Men’s Tennis Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell College tennis courts.

The NECC Championship is comprised of three doubles flights and six singles flights. Mitchell College, Becker College and Lesley University will all be represented in the finals in both doubles and singles play. The Mariners claimed victories at every flight on Saturday and will compete in all nine finals on Sunday. Becker placed two doubles squads and three singles players in the finals while Lesley will send one doubles team and three singles players to the final round.

The day began with three semifinal doubles flights that featured a total of five matches. The lone upset came in the second flight with the third-seeded Becker team of Tim Howard (Paxton, Mass./Wachusett Regional) and Branden Parkhouse (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Los Osos) upending second-seeded Lesley by an 8-6 final, the closest doubles match of the day. The Becker squad will face the top-seeded Mitchell duo of Tyler Engleberg (Niantic, Conn./East Lyme) and Alexander Fusco (Saugus, Mass./Saugus), who advanced past a fourth-seeded Wheelock squad by an 8-2 final.

The top-seeded teams in the first and third flights all advanced to the finals. Mitchell’s Kyle Carmona (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) and Rocco Devona (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) will square off against Lesley’s David Newton (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) and Alex Zhitnik (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) in the top flight. Becker’s Matt Graham (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Los Osos) and Josh Rasmussen (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo), who received a bye in the semifinals, will meet the Mitchell team of Adam Samuels (New Rochelle, N.Y./Soundview Prep) and Andrew Small (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) in the third flight.

All but two singles matches were decided in straight sets. Lesley’s Nick Mattox (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) needed a third set to advance past Wheelock’s Bobby Venning (Greenfield, N.H./ConVal Regional) by scores of 6-0, 0-6, 6-3 in the second flight. The match between Small and Graham at the fifth flight also needed a deciding set, with Small winning by finals of 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
The only upset in the singles bracket came in the fourth flight, where third-seeded Brian Piquette (Agawam, Mass./Feeding Hills) of Becker topped the second-seeded Zhitnik. Piquette will face the top-seeded Samuels—who defeated Wheelock’s Claire O’Donoghue (East Haven, Conn./East Haven)— in the finals.

Samuels was one of four top-seeded Mitchell players to advance to the final round. Carmona, Devona and Engleberg will represent the Mariners at the first, second and third flights, respectively. Carmona will square off against second-seeded Newton, the only player this season to win a set against the reigning NECC Player of the Year. Devona will meet Mattox while Engleberg takes on Parkhouse.

Rounding out the finals match-ups will be Lesley’s Christian Domingo (Granada Hills, Calif./Delphi Academy) and Small in the fifth flight and Rasmussen and Fusco in the sixth flight.

The 2011 NECC Men’s Tennis Championship will conclude with three doubles finals and six singles finals on Sunday, May 1 at the Mitchell College tennis courts. Doubles play is slated to begin at 10 a.m. with singles action to follow.