Gulls To Play for CCC Baseball Crown After Downing Salve Regina

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Endicott erupted for three runs in the second inning and never looked back as they defeated Salve Regina 13-0 to reach the 2013 CCC Championship game.

Brett Holmgren (Middleboro, Mass.) drove in three runs and Tyler Hitchcock struck out five batters and scattered just three hits in seven shutout innings, improving to 8-1 on the season.

Endicott extended their lead by adding four runs in the fourth inning and five more over the next two frames.

Holmgren delivered a two-run single to right center with the bases loaded in the second inning, which was led off by a Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) triple. Gold, who had three hits and scored twice, also delivered an RBI single in the fourth, which scored second baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.).

Graduate student Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.) had two hits, one run and two RBIs, while lead-off man Conor Ressel (Rockport, Mass.) scored twice and added a RBI himself.

Salve Regina freshman Sean Healy (Wakefield, R.I.) was tagged with the loss, falling to 3-2 on the year. Healy threw the first three and two-thirds innings and gave up seven runs, four of them earned. He gave up nine of the Gull's 17 hits.

Third baseman Joe Haley (North Kingstown, R.I.) was the only player with two hits for Salve Regina, who had five hits as a team and fell to 29-12 on the year. 

Endicott (31-12) will play a one-game championship against top-seeded Western New England at 4:00 pm this afternoon as they try to win their first CCC crown since the 2005-2006 season.