Pagano’s Walk-Off Two-Run Single in the Bottom of the Ninth Lifts Baseball Past Springfield College, 11-10

Box Score

HOLYOKE, Mass. – Elms College freshman designated hitter Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I.) delivered a two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth following a furious rally by Springfield College to help lift the Blazers to a thrilling 11-10 victory over the Pride in Wednesday evening's non-conference baseball game at MacKenzie Stadium.

With the win, Elms improves to 13-16 overall, while Springfield College slips to 10-21 on the season.

Trailing 10-9 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Elms' senior left fielder Donald Morse (Alfred, Maine) earned a one-out walk but was forced out at second base when senior catcher Carm Bonavita (Springfield, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice to give Springfield two outs in the inning. Senior first baseman Hector Roche (Bronx, N.Y.) reached on a two-base outfield error to give the Blazers a pair of runners in scoring position for Pagano who came through with a two-run, walk-off single and give Elms an 11-10 victory.

Elms' freshman lefty Evan Donermeyer (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who entered with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and retired the Pride's last batter, earned his first collegiate win and first decision of the season to improve to 1-0.

Springfield reliever Adam DeFelice (Avon, Conn.) pitched the final 4.1 innings and suffered the loss to fall to 1-3 on the season.

Trailing 8-1 after six innings, Springfield rallied with four runs in the top of the seventh when John Schmaltz (Cromwell, Conn.) singled in Mike McGowan (Franklin, Mass.) before Michael Micik (Greenwich, Conn.) launched a three-run blast to pull the Pride to within three at 8-5.

The Pride inched closer with two runs in the top of the eighth when Mike Corletta (Wettown, N.Y.) doubled and advanced to third on a miscue and then scored on a passed ball to start the frame before Schmaltz drove in McGowan for the second consecutive inning to set the score at 8-7.

Elms responded in the home half of the eighth when freshman third baseman Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) and freshman right fielder Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) drilled back-to-back singles and both advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. Senior second baseman Brendan Cordeiro (Berkley, Mass.) then lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in Dreher before DeFelice struck out the next batter to end the inning with the Blazers holding a 9-7 lead.

In the top of the ninth, McGowan and Mike Sirani (Ghent, N.Y.) drew back-to-back, two-out walks to set up Schmaltz who crushed a homer to put Springfield ahead 10-9. Micik singled and Frank Calabrese (East Longmeadow, Mass.) earned a free pass before Donermeyer entered in relief for Elms and forced the Pride to hit into a fielder's choice out and keep the Blazers' deficit at one and setting the stage for Pagano's late-game heroics.

Elms jumped out to an early 3-0 lead using a two-run single by Roche in the bottom of the first and a run-scoring single by King in the bottom of the fourth to post its early edge.

After Springfield got a run back in the top of the fifth, the Blazers surged for five in the bottom of the fifth frame when junior catcher Reynaldo Rivera (San Juan, Puerto Rico) delivered a two-run base hit and Pagano cranked a three-run blast to give Elms an 8-1 advantage.

Pagano paced Elms' offense going 2 for 4 with five RBI, while Rivera and Roche drove in two runs apiece. Brendan Cordeiro, sophomore center fielder Stephen Fisher Pagano and King registered two hits each in the winning effort.

Schmaltz led Springfield's offensive efforts with a 4 for 6 day at the plate with six RBI, Micik drove in three runs.

Elms returns to New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action on Thursday, April 28 when it travels to Southern Vermont College for a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.