STANDISH, Maine - #5 Elms College (16-18) stunned top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (28-13), 4-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball tournament quarterfinal at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Thursday afternoon.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the win, Elms advances to the winners' bracket contest and will face #3 Johnson & Wales University at 1:30 PM at Mahaney Diamond on Saturday. The Blazers have certainly been the best Cinderella story so far in the 2022 tourney, as they upset #4 Lasell University in a play-in game on Tuesday, 13-8 in 15 innings, and the momentum continued into today's contest.
With the loss, Saint Joseph's moves into the elimination bracket and will take on second-seeded Anna Maria College – which suffered a 15-11 setback at the hands of Johnson & Wales this afternoon – in a win-or-go-home game on Saturday at 10:00 AM.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Blazers scored all four of their runs in the top of the first with three coming on one swing. Sophomore AJ Cook (Mendon, Mass.) reached on an error to lead off the game and was out at second when freshman George Chaya (Methuen, Mass.) grounded into a fielder's choice. Senior Tyler Galenski (Wilbraham, Mass.) followed with a free pass to first and grad third baseman Austin Roy (Cromwell, Conn.) plated Chaya with a base hit to center to make it a 1-0 game.
Next up was sophomore Justin Miller (Prospect, Conn.), who flew out to center for what should have been the third out, but the error extended the inning and allowed Josh Nohilly (Bristol, Conn.) to bat in the first. The senior first baseman made the Monks pay for the miscue by jacking a three-run homer beyond the right-center wall.
Saint Joseph's had several opportunities to get on the board, including a pair of bases-loaded chances, but Elms pitchers Henry Rondon (Ansonia, Conn.) and Josh Guilmartin (East Granby, Conn.) managed to escape unscathed and kept the SJC hitters off balance the entire game.
ON THE MOUND:
- SJC junior starter Samuel Jalbert (Mascouche, Que.) allowed four runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks with three K's in five innings; relievers Sean McDonough (Concord, N.H.) and Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) combined to toss four innings of scoreless, one-hit relief
- For Elms, Rondon earned his first collegiate victory after scattering five hits with two strikeouts over six innings while Guilmartin picked up his first save of the season with three frames of two-hit relief while fanning three SJC batters
OFF THE BAT:
- For the Monks, senior third baseman Ronan Chisholm (North Chatham, Mass.) went 2-for-4
- For the Blazers, Nohilly was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and Spencer Azzara (Glastonbury, Conn.) went 2-for-4
