Blazers Advance in NECC Championship

Game 1 – NEC 4, Elms 3 (11 innings) 

Elms jumped on top early thanks to a solo homer by Nathan Ayala (Springfield, Mass./Chicopee) in the second inning, his first of the season. NEC scratched across the tying run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly Luca Giallongo (Mount Shasta, Calif./St. John's College High) that scored Devin Parson (Salisbury, Mass./Triton). 

The Blazers put two on with two out in the seventh, and AJ Cook (Mendon, Mass./Mount Saint Charles) cashed in with a two-run single to center to make it a 3-1 game. NEC got a run back in the home half on a pinch-hit homer by BJ Minarcin (Naples, Fla./Santa Rosa Junior College), his fourth long ball of the season. 

Elms took the one-run advantage in the ninth and had the Pilgrims down to their final out with one runner on. The next three NEC batters all went to two-strike counts, but all of them worked their way on base. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, Morin was hit by a pitch to force in the tying run.  

Both teams stranded runners in scoring position in the 10^th. In the 11^th, back-to-back singles by Merrow and Garrett Langis (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) set the table for Morin's dramatic walk-off. He delivered a shot into the right-center gap and was mobbed by his teammates at second base. 

Pascucci didn't factor into the decision after he was replaced by Matt White (Sanbornville, N.H./Spaulding) in the 11^th. White (3-1 overall) struck out one and didn't issue a hit. 

Elms starter Kyle Sebastyanski (Auburn, Mass./Auburn) yielded two runs on eight hits over 7.0 innings of work. Reliever Dominick Whalen (Enfield, Conn./Metropolitan Learning Center) gave up two runs on five hits in the loss and dropped to 1-5 overall.   

Game 2 – Elms 9, Becker 2 

Elms cracked the scoreboard first with a run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Roy. Becker tied things up the very next inning, with Silas Thomas (Sequim, Wash./Sequim) scoring on a ground ball by Carter Jackman (Kanab, Utah/Kanab). 

 The two teams traded runs again in the sixth. The Hawks took the lead on a leadoff homer by Niko Mokanos (Montvale, N.J./St. Joseph Regional) in the top half, and the Blazers answered right back behind an RBI single by Keaton in the bottom.   

Elms put up six runs in the seventh inning—all with two outs—to take control of the game. Roy and Cole Blades (Lowell, Mass./Greater Lowell) each supplied RBI singles, and Justin Miller (Prospect, Conn./Holy Cross) followed with a two-run double. Keaton capped the rally with a two-run homer to left to pad the lead to 8-2.  Blades tacked on an insurance run in the eighth with a double that scored Roy. The Blazers wouldn't need the extra support as Damon retired the side in order in the ninth to close out the win. He improved to 2-4 overall with the victory. 

The Blazers will face the loser of the Mitchell vs New England College game at 3:30pm.