Baseball Sinks Mariners, Earns Spot in NECC Title Game

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The second-seeded Elms College baseball earned a spot in the 2015 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship game with a 6-3 victory over top-seed, and host, Mitchell College at Alumni Field Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Elms improves to 19-15 on the season, and advances to their first NECC title game since 2009. Mitchell (29-5) moved onto an elimination game against Becker College at 4:00 p.m. The winner of the Mitchell-Becker game will face the Blazers in the championship game Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

"We played well all day," said Elms Head Coach Scott Netkovick. "Our pitchers made big pitches, Tom [Weldon] came in and got some big outs, and we were able to get timely hits with two outs. We had a discussion all week about who would go for and in what order, and Andrew [Sadowski] was able to step up for that and go out there and shove for eight innings. Tomorrow, we'll need to bring the same, consistent effort we've had today and yesterday, show up and play a full nine, or 18 innings if need be."

The Mariners grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as senior Gavin LaLima (Waterford, Conn.) scored on an RBI fielder's choice from senior Evan Peck (Shelton, Conn.) to stake Mitchell to a 1-0 lead after the opening frame.

The Blazers responded in the top of the second with freshman Michael Bombard (Chicopee, Mass.) drawing a leadoff walk, and then coming around to score on an RBI single from senior Geoff Frost (Ludlow, Mass.), to knot the game at 1-1. Elms pulled ahead in the third as senior Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) raced home on and RBI fielder's choice from sophomore Jordan Zima (Berlin, Conn.).

The Blazers continued to add to their lead in the fifth with Zima delivering an RBI single to right field, followed by sophomore Tim Gelzinis (North Dighton, Mass.) scoring on a wild pitch, to extend the Elms advantage to 4-1. With the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Bombard laced an RBI single into left field, giving the Blazers a 5-1 lead. Elms added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Forrest to make it a 6-1 game.

After allowing a run in the first inning, Blazers junior Andrew Sadowski (Northampton, Mass.) limited the Mariners to one hit over the next five innings. With two outs in the seventh, Mitchell mounted a comeback and chipped into the Elms advantage. With runners on second and third, LaLima knocked a two-run double into left field, trimming the Blazers lead to 6-3. The Mariners threatened in the ninth with a pinch-hit single from senior Drew Doyle (Mystic, Conn.), followed by a ground-rule double from senior Peter McTernan (Mystic, Conn.) to put a pair of runners in scoring position, but Elms junior Tom Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) forced LaLima to line out to second base, securing the 6-3 victory for Elms.

Sadowski (6-4) earned the win in a solid eight-inning effort, allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts. Mitchell. Weldon registered his first career save with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth. Mitchell junior Tyler Shamas (7-1; Westbrook, Conn.) took the loss in just 2.2 innings of work, scattering two runs on two hits, while freshman Eddie Santiago (New London, Conn.) surrendered three runs, two earned, on five hits with four strikeouts.

The Blazers racked up 15 hits, paced by Forrest, Bombard, and junior Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) with three hits apiece. Zima and freshman Ben Ross (Thompson, Conn.) added two hit each, while Zima drove in a pair of runs. LaLima and senior Kenneth Olszewski (Canterbury, Conn.) had two hits each with LaLima knocking in two runs for Mitchell.

ELMS BASEBALL