Baseball’s Rally Falls Just Short To JWU In GNACs

BOXSCORE

WORCESTER, MA: Down by ten runs at one point, the second-seeded Anna Maria College baseball team went on to lose 15-11 to visiting third-seeded Johnson & Wales University on Thursday afternoon in the double-elimination second round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) playoffs at Granger Field in Worcester, Massachusetts in a rematch of last season's conference championship finals. Both teams will now advance to the GNAC semifinals on Saturday at Saint Joseph's College of Maine at Larry Mahaney Diamond in Standish, Maine.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Thursday, May 5, 2022
• Score: #3 Johnson & Wales 15, #2 Anna Maria 11
• Records: Wildcats of Johnson & Wales 15-24 | AMCATS of Anna Maria 23-16       
  

TOP 'CATS:

• Anna Maria senior shortstop Kosta Drosidis (Holden, MA), already Anna Maria's all-time career leader in home runs, went two-for-four with two home runs, four runs batted in, a walk and three runs scored. His performance on Thursday leaves him third all-time in career hits, fourth all-time in career runs and third all-time in career RBI.
• JWU junior designated hitter Griffin Snyder (Marietta, GA) hit his team-leading sixth and seventh home runs of the year for the Wildcats, totaling four RBIs on the day.

PLAY-BY-PLAY:

• The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first behind a three-run home run from Sn, the AMCATS would answer in the bottom of the frame when Drosidis launched a solo shot over the left field wall to pull his team to within two.
• In the top of the second, JWU freshman centerfielder Trevor Juan (Bolton, CT) tripled down the left-field line as his ball rolled all the way to the wall, driving in two more runs for the Wildcats and putting the visitors up 5-1. The AMCATS went down in order, as the game entered the third.
• In the top of the third, Snyder would hit his second homer of the game, once again launching a pitch over the left-field wall on a solo blast.
• In the top of the fourth, the Wildcats again turned to the long ball, as sophomore shortstop Riley Hasson (South Portland, ME) launched one over the wall at straight-ahead center to give JWU a 7-1 lead.
• Trailing by six in the bottom of the fourth, Anna Maria turned to junior designated hitter Elijah Spataj (Cheshire, CT) who crushed his team-leading seventh home run of the season, that once again coming over the left field wall.
• In the top of the fifth, the Johnson & Wales lineup exploded for five runs to put the Wildcats up by double-digits, with Juan capping it off with a two-run double. Just like that the visitors took a commanding 12-2 lead.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Anna Maria proved there was no quit in them, as they fought back for three runs with junior left-fielder James Powers (Folsom, CA) doubling in two runs and Spataj driving in a third run on an RBI groundout.  
• After another JWU run in the top of the sixth, the AMCATS' lineup – quiet for much of the day – erupted for five runs. Senior third baseman Nick Genatossio (Sutton, MA) hit a solo home run to left center for his third homer of the season. Four batters later, Drosidis launched his 20^th career home run to left center on a three-run blast. On the very next at bat, it was freshman first baseman Jeremy Rosenberg (Boynton Beach, FL) with a moon shot to center.
• Down 14-10 in the bottom of the seventh, Anna Maria junior centerfielder Hunter Dunithan (Reno, NV) hit his second home run of the year on a solo shot to pull the AMCATS to within three. That was as close as they could get, however, falling just short.

UP NEXT:
Anna Maria will be back on the field on Saturday when they play Saint Joseph's College of Maines in the GNAC semifinals in Standish, Maine.

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