Mitchell College Posts Doubleheader Sweep Over Baseball

Box Scores

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Elms College junior left fielder Donald Morse (Alfred, Maine) drove in three runs in game one, but Mitchell College's Felix Colarte (North Bergen, N.J.) was a combined 3 for 9 with three runs scored, six RBI and a homer to help lift the Mariners to a doubleheader sweep of the Blazers in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball action in New London, Conn.

Mitchell won the first game 19-9 and followed that with a 9-3 victory in game two to improve to 14-5-1 overall, 9-2 in NECC play. With the two losses, Elms slides to 9-14 on the season, 2-6 in conference action.

Mitchell 19, Elms 9

After scoring three runs in the bottom of the first and four in the bottom of the second, the Mariners struck for seven in the bottom of the third to open up a 14-0 cushion. The scoring surge was highlighted by a three-run blast in the bottom of the first inning by Colarte to get the Mariners' offense going

Elms got a run across in the top of the fourth when sophomore center fielder Stephen Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) singled, moved to third on a ground-rule double by junior third baseman Nicolino Iavicoli (Hampden, Mass.) and then scored when Morse reached on an infield error.

Mitchell's John Apostolo (Queens, N.Y.) then crushed a two-run homer to extend the lead to 16-1 in the bottom of the fourth, and three more runs in the bottom of the fifth gave the Mariners a 19-1 advantage.

The Blazers struck for eight runs on a hit and a pair of Mitchell miscues in the top of the seventh but the Mariners held on for a 10-run, 19-9 victory.

Elms' freshman right-handed starter Curtis LeBeau (Auburn, Mass.) suffered the loss to fall to 1-4 on the season, while Fisher and Morse finished with two hits each in the losing effort.

Mitchell's game-one starter Paul Martinez (New London, Conn.) pitched five innings and struck out six, surrendering just one run on three hits en route his fourth win of the season on the bump and improved to 4-1 overall.

Colarte drove in four runs, while Jeff Perillo (Newington, Conn.) and Osmer Collado (New York, N.Y.) added three hits each.

Mitchell 9, Elms 3

Mitchell used a pair of runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the bottom of the third to stake a 4-0 lead in game two before Elms notched two runs in the top of the four to cut its deficit in half at 4-2.

Morse walked to lead off the Blazers' fourth, moved to second when freshman first baseman Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) reached on an infield miscue and then scored when junior second baseman Andrew Kravontka (Manchester, Conn.) reached on the second error of the frame. An RBI groundout by senior catcher Carm Bonavita (Springfield, Mass.) set the score at 4-2 before Apostolo tossed a strikeout to end the inning.

Mitchell extended its lead to 5-2 with a run in the bottom of the fifth before adding four runs in the bottom of the sixth to set the score at 9-2. Apostolo helped his own cause with an RBI double, and Colarte and Carlos Hughes (Trenton, N.J.) contributed RBI base hits to highlight the stanza.

Elms plated a run in the top of the seventh to pull to within six at 9-3 but could get no closer as the Mariners completed the sweep.

Apostolo pitched all seven innings and earned the win to improve to 6-1 overall, tossing four strikeouts in the process while his Elms counterpart, senior left-hander Nick Cordeiro (Berkley, Mass.), went the distance for the Blazers but suffered the loss to fall to 3-2 on the season. Nick Cordeiro added four punch-outs in the loss.

For the second straight game, Elms was limited to just five hits as senior shortstop Brendan Cordeiro (Berkley, Mass.) and freshman right fielder Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) delivered two each in the loss.

Anthony Santiago (Newark, N.J.) was 4 for 4 at the dish with four runs scored in the nightcap, while Apostolo collected three hits and three RBI in the winning effort.

Hughes added a trio of hits and Colarte drove in a pair for Mitchell in the game two win.

Elms and Mitchell will play the final game of the three-game set on Sunday, April 17 at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass. First-pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m.