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Box Score 2
LYNDHURST, N.J. – A hard take-out slide by Felician College junior Aaron Brill (West Palm Beach, Fla./John I. Leonard) in the bottom of the 10th inning allowed teammate Ralph Caccavale (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) to score the winning run, sending Felician to a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the teams' Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday evening at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex. Chestnut Hill rebounded to take Game 2, 7-0. The contests completed the 2013 CACC schedule for both schools.
The Golden Falcons (18-27, 10-10 CACC) entered Saturday needing either one win or one loss by Caldwell College to earn a berth into the CACC Tournament. Game 1 between Felician and Chestnut Hill was scheduled for 4 p.m., four hours after the rest of the day's conference action began. By the time the Golden Falcons and Griffins took the field, Caldwell had already lost the first game of its doubleheader at nationally-ranked Wilmington (Del.) University, putting Felician into the playoffs for the third time in the last four years.
The Golden Falcons validated their berth by edging Chestnut Hill in the evening's opening game. Caccavale opened the home half of the 10th by looping a single to right field off of Griffin reliever Micah Winterstein (Philadelphia, Pa./Guilford) (2-1). After Caccavale advance to second base on a short groundout, CHC decided to intentionally walk Brill, Felician's leading hitter.
Golden Falcon right-fielder Jay Collazo (Wall, N.J./Manasquan) followed with a potential double-play grounder to short. CHC's Joseph Crane (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock South) flipped to second-sacker Taylor Steen (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) for the force, but Brill came in hard on Steen, knocking him to the ground with his slide. As Caccavale reached third base and bolted for the plate, Steen was unable to return to his feet, and the game ended without a play at home. Collazo was credited with a run batted in on the play.
Senior right-handers Robert Hopkins (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast Catholic) and Vic Monteagudo (West Palm Beach, Fla./John I. Leonard) dueled for eight innings before departing with no-decisions. Monteagudo allowed five hits and three walks while striking out six, with his only blemish coming in the fifth when Michael McLaughlin (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) scored on a wild pitch.
Hopkins gave up an unearned run in the seventh, aided by his own errant pickoff throw. A groundout by Felician's Chris Faber (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) brought home fellow junior Jordan Tackett (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford). Hopkins yielded six hits and three walks while striking out nine.
Winterstein and Felician lefty Jack Fowler (Shrewsbury, N.J./Red Bank Regional) each worked scoreless ninth innings to force extra frames. Fowler (4-3) worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the 10th to earn the victory. Caccavale, Tackett, and Mike Farrell (Red Bank, N.J./Middletown South) had two hits apiece for the Golden Falcons. CHC's Patrick Campion (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) was 2 for 4 with two stolen bases.
By the start of Game 2, Philadelphia University had completed a doubleheader sweep of Post University, locking Felician out of a chance at a first-round home game and securing the Golden Falcons and Griffins into the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds. The hosts went on to use seven pitchers in a contest that saw both pitching staffs record 11 strikeouts.
Chestnut Hill (17-23, 10-10) took advantage of two Felician errors to score four first-inning runs off of freshman left-hander Chris Falcone (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by-the-Sea) (0-6). Falcone went on to strike out four in three frames, and was charged with one earned run.
The Griffins tacked on two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth for the final margin. Starting pitcher Dominic Raia III (Philadelphia, Pa./GAMP) tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out eight. Freshman Zachary Crim (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) completed CHC's seven-hit shutout.
Gabriel Fellin (Temple, Pa./Muhlenberg) and Faber had two hits apiece and Andrew Lombardi (Boonton, N.J./Montville Township) doubled for the Golden Falcons. Chesnut Hill combined to steal 10 bases in the twinbill, including four by Crane.
Five Felician seniors – Jonathan Arche (Miami, Fla./John A. Ferguson), Farrell, Brett Hauber (Deposit, N.Y./Deposit Central) Lombardi, and Monteagudo – were honored between games in Senior Night ceremonies.
Felician College BASEBALL Senior Day 2013.
Photo by Joe Mazza.
