Endicott Falls to Wheaton (Mass.) in Regionally-Ranked Talent Showdown
BEVERLY, Mass. –In a matchup of the region’s fourth-ranked Endicott and sixth-ranked Wheaton (Mass.) baseball teams on Thursday afternoon, the Gulls were bested 10-3 as the Lyons got a four-RBI game from junior first baseman Apolinar De La Cruz (Providence, R.I.) and 7 1/3 innings from freshman lefty starter Michael Bruemmel (Bridgewater, Mass.) at North Field.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
BEVERLY, Mass. –In a matchup of the region's fourth-ranked Endicott and sixth-ranked Wheaton (Mass.) baseball teams on Thursday afternoon, the Gulls were bested 10-3 as the Lyons got a four-RBI game from junior first baseman Apolinar De La Cruz (Providence, R.I.) and 7 1/3 innings from freshman lefty starter Michael Bruemmel (Bridgewater, Mass.) at North Field.
Endicott (11-4) saw senior centerfielder Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) go 3-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored but the Gulls lost their third non-conference game of the season to drop to 8-3 against non-league opponents. The Blue and Green are off until Sunday, April 6th when they travel to CCC rival Western New England for a doubleheader in a rematch of the 2013 CCC Championship. This critical, early-season conference doubleheader begins at 12:00 pm in Springfield, Massachusetts.
De La Cruz hit a leadoff solo homerun to right in the top of the second, added a RBI single in the seventh, and roped a triple in the ninth inning to bring home two to lead a Lyons offense that produced 14 hits against Gulls pitching. Three other players recorded multi-hit games while junior designated hitter Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.) plated two runs on a bases loaded walk and a RBI single.
Endicott starter, senior Tyler Hill (Las Vegas, Nev.) allowed two runs in the second inning but settled down to set down nine straight batters in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Hill, however, allowed back-to-back singles and a walk to start the sixth inning before giving way to bullpen as Endicott allowed four runs to turn a 2-2 tie into a 6-2 advantage for Wheaton. Wheaton added one run in the seventh on De La Cruz's RBI single and three more in the ninth to cap off the scoring.
Wheaton capitalized with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth as Bisceglia drew a walk to break the 2-2 tie. Sophomore third baseman Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass.), senior left fielder Kevin Foley (Southbury, Conn.), and junior catcher Zach Horton (North Attleboro, Mass.) followed with RBI hits to produce offensive damage in the four-run sixth.
After going down in the first, second, and third innings, the Endicott offense got going in the bottom of the fourth after Gold and senior catcher EJ Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) reached base to start the inning. After Martinez, freshman Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.) roped a double down the left field line to score Gold easily but the Lyons relayed home to gun down Martinez at the plate. Endicott would follow up with another run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game as Gold singled to center with two outs to plate freshman Cam Farnham (Andover, Mass.).
Endicott's final run of the loss came in the bottom of the eighth after Gold led off with a triple to left center and scored on a warning-track sacrifice fly to left by Martinez.
Bruemmel (3-2) finished with 7 1/3 innings on the bump, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits, no walks, with two strikeouts. Lyons relievers Kyle Kasprzyk (East Falmouth, Mass.) and Bisceglia combined to pitch the final 1 2/3, allowing just one base runner to reach. Wheaton continues their season with a road game at NEWMAC opponent Babson on Friday riding a six-game winning streak.