AMCATS Caught by Cougars

Worcester, Mass. – Sophomore hurler Luke Crocker (Stafford, Vt.) tossed 8.1 strong innings and the Clark University offense banged out 13 hits en route to a 6-3 win over Worcester-area rival Anna Maria in non-league baseball action on Tuesday afternoon at Granger Field.

With the win, the Cougars improve to 9-21 overall and pick up their first home win of the season, while the AMCATS who are coming off of four straight 20-plus win seasons, have dropped three in a row to slip to 13-17.

Anna Maria actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Kevin Wodatch (Wallingford, Conn.) led off the game with a triple then came around to score on a Mike Guarnieri (Wallingford, Conn.) single to center.

Clark evened the score in the third when Andrew Doolittle (Hebron, Conn.) singled to drive in Brian Sullivan (Auburn, Mass.), who had reached on a hit by pitch earlier in the inning.

The AMCATS took the lead back in the top of the fourth when Justin Hyland (Spencer, Mass.) singled and then scored on a Julian Diaz (Providence, R.I.) groundout to second.

The Cougars broke the game open in the bottom of the frame when both Jack Kenney (Saco, Maine) and David Eschen (New York, N.Y.) each had two-run singles.

Ahead 5-2, Clark tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when Matt Asdornvuttikrai (Winchester, Mass.) led off the inning with his first career triple. He later scored on Dan Lima's (Manchester, Conn.) pinch hit to right.

Crocker (1-2) scattered nine hits and allowed three runs, while striking out four and walking none. Wodatch, meanwhile, yielded 11 hits and six earned runs on the mound but went 2-for-5 at the plate. In addition to Wodatch, both Joe McNeil (Sutton, Mass.) and Andrew Montiverdi (Worcester, Mass.) each had two hits.

Doolittle had three hits for the Cougars, while freshman catcher Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) went 2-for-5 and threw out two of the three runners attempting to steal on him