NEW HAVEN, CT - The Saint Joseph's (8-6, 2-0 GNAC) baseball team
swept a conference doubleheader with Albertus Magnus College (1-10,
0-2) on Saturday afternoon. In the opener, St. Joe's trailed 4-0
after four innings, but rallied to score six unanswered runs and
collect the victory. In game two, the Monks put crooked numbers on
the board in the second and fourth innings en route to a 10-2
triumph. SJC starting pitchers Pat
Moran '10 (Winterport, ME), who fanned nine and
allowed six hits and one walk in game one, and
Andrew Keirstead '10 (Westbrook,
ME) earned the victories and improved to 3-0 and 2-1, respectively,
on the season. Catcher Ian Lee
'11 (Hampden, ME) paced the Monks offensively with four hits in
eight at bats and now has six multiple-hit games this year.
The twin bill sweep gives the 2009 senior class 100 wins in their
four seasons donning the Royal Blue. The four seniors,
Wade Oliver (Owls Head, ME),
Andrew Pooler (Southwest Harbor,
ME), Stephan Gorsun (South
Berwick, ME) and Michael
Hebenstreit (Centerville, MA), have been witness
to a 100-46-1 (.685) record and are in pursuit of their fourth
conference title this season.
GAME
ONE
Falcons starter Charles Chancio '11 (Oxford, CT) struck out five
SJC batters and did not allow a baserunner through the first three
innings of play. Meanwhile, a three-run dinger to right off the bat
of designated hitter Erik Suraci '10 (West Haven, CT) in the bottom
of the second staked the sophomore southpaw to a 3-0 lead. AMC
added another run to gain a 4-0 advantage over the 2008 GNAC champs
when John Stavola '10 (Berlin, CT) doubled home Kyle Calechman '11
(North Haven, CT) with two out in the third inning.
St. Joe's showed little regard for the Falcons' 4-0 advantage and,
with Moran dealing on the mound, scored six
unanswered runs to take the conference conquest. The Monks played
in their fourth extra innings game of the season in the
process.
The rally began in the fourth, when the Monks plated three runs to
make it a one-run game. With one out, Chris
Campbell '11 (Rochester, NH) and Lee hit back to
back base knocks. Ben Grant-Roy '10 (Biddeford,
ME) and Todd Keneborus '11
(Hollis Center, ME/Cheverus) both walked, scoring
Campbell, and Eric
Labatte '11 (Rochester, NH) singled up the middle
to plate Grant-Roy and Lee to get the Monks within
a run of the Falcons.
St. Joe's tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when
Campbell, who was hit by a Chancio fastball and
advanced to second on a pitch in the dirt, scored on a
Lee single to right with two out.
Moran and AMC reliever Dan Stewart '12 (Berlin, CT) held the
deadlock intact until the 8th frame, when the Monks scored two runs
to gain a 6-4 edge. Grant-Roy led off the inning
with a double to left-center and advanced to third on a
Keneborus groundout to short.
LaBatte drilled a single up the middle to send the
first baseman scrambling home, providing the Royal Blue with their
first lead of the afternoon. LaBatte moved to
second on a sac bunt by Gorsun and added an
insurance run when Danny Achorn
'12 (Bow, NH) ripped a double to right. Moran
induced a pair of groundouts and fanned a batter in the eighth to
cap his second complete-game effort of the year.
For the Monks, LaBatte was 2-4 with three RBI's,
Lee was 2-4 with a run and an RBI, and Campbell
and Grant-Roy both went 2-3 with two runs in the
win.
For the Falcons, Stavola was 2-2 with a run and an RBI and Peter
Rogan '10 (Middletown, CT) was 2-4 with a run scored. Chancio
allowed four runs, six hits and a walk while fanning nine in five
innings. Stewart allowed two runs and four hits in three innings of
work to take the loss.
GAME
TWO
After a scoreless first frame, the Monks exploded for four runs on
four hits in the second to gain a lead they would not surrender.
With one out, Keneborus singled and stole second
base before LaBatte was hit by a James Maule '11 (Kensington, CT)
pitch. Moran sent Keneborus home
with a sharply hit single to left and Achorn notched his second
double of the day to clear the bases. The next batter, SJC second
sacker Mike Burdin '10 (Gardiner,
ME), was nicked by a pitch and later scored on a
Campbell single as the Monks had secured a 4-0
lead for the crafty Keirstead.
After not posting a hit in the first two innings, the Falcons
threatened in the bottom of the third by loading the bases with
three straight base knocks. Keirstead worked out
of the jam by inducing a pair of grounders, a 1-2-3 double play off
the bat of the dangerous Suraci and a 6-3 groundout by Calechman,
to escape without a scratch.
The Monks put the game out of reach by adding five runs in the
fourth with the help of three hits and a pair of AMC miscues.
Burdin singled to plate Moran,
who led off the inning with a walk, and later scored on a bunt and
run play executed by Oliver. Lee
and Grant-Roy launched back to back run-scoring
doubles and Keneborus hit a grounder to third,
which was misplayed ball by Falcons third baseman Rogan, to send
Grant-Roy home and give the Monks a cushy 9-0
lead.
After SJC relievers Kevin
Chamberlain '11 (Scarborough, ME) and
Shawn Hall '10 (West Newfield,
ME) worked scoreless innings, St. Joe's tacked on an extra run in
the seventh to make the score 10-0. Peter
Allain '12 (Salem, NH) opened the frame by driving
a double down the left field line, was moved to third by a
Dan Brown '12 (Portland,
ME/Deering) single and scored on an infield hit off Gorsun's bat.
The Falcons added a pair of meaningless runs in the bottom of the
seventh to cap the game scoring with the Monks on top, 10-2.
For St. Joe's, Lee was 2-4 with a run and an RBI
and Moran was 2-2 with two runs and an RBI.
Achorn had two RBI's and Burdin
scored two runs in the win.
Chris Dady '12 (East Haven, CT), Robert Bengivengo '11 (Oxford, CT)
and Malcom Mendez '12 (Lower East Side, NY) all notched two hits
for Albertus Magnus. Maule allowed nine earned runs and seven hits
in 3 2/3 innings and was hit with the loss.
Saint Joseph's will play at Johnson & Wales University on
Sunday in a conference double dip slated to begin at 12:00 PM.
