Baseball Sweep Monks Into Vow of Silence

MARLBOROUGH, MA: On Saturday afternoon, the Anna Maria College Baseball hosted the Saint Joseph's College (ME) Monks for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader at Marlborough High School.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, April 8, 2023
• Game 1: St. Joes 2, Anna Maria 8
• Game 2: St. Joes 8, Anna Maria 11
• Records: Saint Joseph's College (ME) Monks 9-13 (4-2 GNAC) | Anna Maria AMCATS 12-11 (7-1 GNAC)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Game #1
  • The AMCATS were the first ones on the board in the opening game of today's doubleheader. Senior designated hitter James Powers (Folsom, CA) reached on a fielding error by the pitcher. Three batters graduate student right-fielder Jarrod Marifiote (Framingham, MA) singled up the middle to move Powers to second. Junior second baseman Christian Villa (Concord, CA) then drove him in with an RBI single to left field.
  • The Monks tied the game in the top of the fourth but the AMCATS blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, freshman left-fielder AJ Guitron-Moore (Newport Harbor, CA) singled and was pinch run for by senior Tommy Sasso (Charlton, MA). Powers then singled to left center and graduate student shortstop Kosta Drosidis (Holden, MA) was hit by a pitch to load the bases for sophomore first baseman Jeremy Rosenberg (Boynton Beach, FL) and chasing the Monks' starting pitcher from the game. Rosenberg welcomed the new pitcher with an RBI single to left field to score Sasso and then Marifiote brought in two more with a double down the left-field line scoring Powers and Drosidis. Villa kept the hit parade going with an RBI single to left that saw Rosenberg score and Marifiote move to third. Hunter Dunithan (Reno, NV) then executed a perfect squeeze bunt to score Marifiote and move Villa to second. Freshman third baseman David Doherty (North Smithfield, RI) then capped the rally with a single to left to score Villa.
  • The Monks scratched back with a run in the top of the sixth on a home run from Jackson Stanton but the AMCATS responded with an insurance run in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Powers reached on an error by the second baseman and was pinch run for by senior Seref McDowell II (Wareham, MA). After a pop-out by Drosidis, McDowell stole second and then scored on a double down the right field line by Rosenberg.
  • Sophomore starting pitcher Nick Choate went the first five innings allowing only one run on two hits while striking out six to even his record at 3-3.
• Game 2
  • The AMCATS scored early and often in the second game putting up multi-run innings in the first, third, and fourth innings before holding off a late rally for the win.
  • The first-inning runs were scored on a single swing thanks to a two-run home run down the right-field line from Rosenberg after Drosidis had hit a one-out double to the left-centerfield wall.
  • After the Monks tied the game with single runs in the second and third, the AMCATS erupted for six runs in the bottom of the third. Powers led off with a walk, Drosidis bunted for a single, and Rosenberg walked to load the bases. Marifiote reached on a fielder's choice when he hit a ground ball that drew the first baseman away from the bag and left him with no choice but to get Rosenberg at second, scoring Powers and putting runners at the corners. Villa then hit a ground-rule double that bounced over the wall in left-centerfield scoring Drosidis but forcing Marifiote to stop at third. Dunithan was the beneficiary as he then scored both Marifiote and Villa with a double into the right-centerfield gap. A single up the middle from Doherty then scored Dunithan from third while also sending the Monks to their bullpen. Freshman catcher Brady Aylward (Southington, CT) then moved Doherty to second with a sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher. The Monks thought that they were out of the inning when they induced Guitron-Moore into a groundball to second but the throw was muffed by the first baseman and an aggressive Doherty came around to score all the way from second base.
  • The AMCATS scored again in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out, two-run bases-loaded single to left by Doherty. Rosenberg started the rally with a one-out double that landed on the left-field line. Marifiote singled and Villa walked. After a Dunithan reached on a fielder's choice, Doherty's single scored Marifiote and Villa.
  • The AMCATS tacked on an additional insurance run in the fifth thanks to a lead-off double from Guitron-Moore, a walk to Powers, and a double to left from Drosidis that scored Guitron-Moore.
  • Junior starting pitcher Anthony Pingeton (Charlton, MA) went the first five and two-third innings, allowing six runs on nine hits while striking out three to improve his record to 5-1.
  • Sophomore pitcher Michael Shorey (Northbridge, MA) pitched three scoreless innings to close out the game for his first save of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The save by Shorey was the second of his collegiate career, the other coming last season on March 5^th against New Jersey City College.
• The AMCATS' 11 runs in the second game were their highest run total of the season, topping the 10 runs that they had scored in the season opener against Penn-State Abington on March 3^rd.  It was also the most runs the AMCATS have scored since they scored 12, last season against Norwich on April 29^th.
• The AMCATS have recorded double-digit hits in each of their last four games, 15 vs Elms, 12 vs Mitchell, and 12 in each of today's games. It is the second streak of four double-digit hit games for the AMCATS this season to go with their streak of 12, 10, 10, and 11 against Penn-State Abington, Carthage, Mount Union, and John Carroll to open the year. The last time the AMCATS had two such streaks was the 2021 season.

UP NEXT:

Anna Maria will be back in action on Tuesday when they will host the Nichols College Bison for a non-conference matchup at the New England Baseball Complex. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 PM.

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