May 2, 2013
Despite two losses to finish NESCAC play, the baseball team has made great strides this season. Their record of 14-21 (4-8 NESCAC) was an improvement from last season’s record of 6-26 (2-10 NESCAC).
Last week began with a close game against SUNY Canton. The teams went back and forth on scoring throughout the game. SUNY Canton struck first in the top half of the second with an RBI single by Braden Giffen ’16. They followed with two runs on two hits and an error in the third, but Ben Goffin ’15 responded with a two-run single in the bottom half. SUNY Canton brought in another run on an error in the fourth, but Hamilton tied it up at 4-4 with an RBI single and a run scored by Joe Jensen ’15 on an RBI single by Sam Fuentes ’13. SUNY Canton soon broke the tie in the fifth with a home run by Jordan Hunneyman ’14 and an RBI single by Eddy Morel ’13. Hamilton got one run back in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly by Jensen after singles by Jared Friedberg ’16, Brian Ferrell ’16 and Tyler Reinhold ’15. After two scoreless innings, SUNY Canton opened up their lead to 8-5 with two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. Hamilton brought the late rally in the last of the ninth with an RBI double by Fuentes and an RBI single by first-year Zack Becker. However, it was too little too late as the game went 8-7 to SUNY Canton. Errors were a problem throughout the game for both teams, each committing five errors in the nine innings.
Over the weekend, the Williams baseball team came to campus for a three game series. The teams played a doubleheader on Saturday, with games at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The first game was a pitcher’s duel, scoreless for the first four innings. Alex Pachella ’15 outpitched Thomas Murphy ’13 in the end, as Murphy gave up two runs in a 3-hit fifth. Lukas Bridenbeck ’13 and Steve LaRochelle ’14 had the RBIs while Becker and Friedberg scored the runs. Pachella pitched seven shut out innings, allowing three hits, striking out six and walking two for the win.
The second game included higher scoring. Jensen reached on a fielding error and scored on Becker’s groundout to shortstop for Hamilton’s first run in the bottom of the first. After a scoreless second, Williams responded in the third with two runs scored on an error by second baseman and a single from Taylor Mondshein ’13. Williams opened up their lead with three runs in the fifth with runs from Jimmy Ray ’13, David Webster ’15 and a rare steal of home by Darren Hartwell ’13. This brought their lead to 5-1.
Hamilton responded with a run in the sixth on a double and a run from Colin Henneberger ’14, but they really brought the offense in a five-run seventh. Nick Taylor ’15, Jensen and Fuentes had singles and Taylor, Jensen, Ferrell and Fuentes scored. Becker stole home to finish the scoring in the inning. At this point, Hamilton led 7-6. They added another run in the eighth to go up 8-6, but Williams tied it up in the ninth with two runs on two hits. This sent the game to extra innings tied at 8-8. After no runs in the tenth and eleventh, Williams scored with a single from Matt Kastner ’14 in the twelfth. Despite two hits in the twelfth, the Continentals were unable to muster a rally and lost the game 9-8. Errors were once again a problem in this game as Williams had seven while Hamilton had three.
In the final game of the weekend, the teams were close for the first three innings. Williams had a run on a hit and two errors in the third, and Hamilton countered with two runs on three hits in the third. Unfortunately, these would be their final runs of the game. Williams scored one run in the fourth, fifth and seventh, and broke it open with four runs in the eighth to win 8-2. Hamilton’s five errors throughout the game contributed to the loss. While Williams scored eight runs, only four of them were earned.
Tommy Moriarty ’14 did not want the two losses to Williams to block out a successful season. He said, “it was disappointing to end the season with two losses against Williams, but the team is so much better than it has been the past couple years. We were competitive in every conference game. We are a legitimate NESCAC-level team. We’re definitely excited about the future of the program.” Based on how far the team came Moriarty has good reason to look forward to seeing what the program achieves in the coming years.
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