MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

2016 MASCAC Semifinals

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Central Campus Field, Salem, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          SALEM STATE 6, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 0

GAME #2 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 6, WESTFIELD STATE 3

SALEM, Mass. --  Sophomore Cobie Gerbis’s (Holmes Beach, Fla.) two-run single plated the go-ahead runs as second-seeded Massachusetts Maritime used a five-run eighth inning rally to post a 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Westfield State in elimination round play of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championships played Saturday afternoon at Salem State’s Central Campus Field. 

The Buccaneers, who fell to the host Vikings by a 6-0 final in semifinal round play earlier in the day, advance to their first-ever appearance in the league championship round, which will be played on Sunday afternoon at Central Campus Field beginning at Noon.  Massachusetts Maritime would force a second championship contest to be played in the tournament with an opening game win, as the MASCAC champion earns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division III championship field.

Sophomore Logan Sullo’s (Acushnet, Mass.) sixth home run of the season gave the Buccaneers (22-14) a 1-0 first inning lead against the Owls (20-20), who evened matters in the second on a single through the right side by freshman Christian Morales (Peabody, Mass.).  Westfield State took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from junior Stephen Brown (Harwich, Mass.) and extended that margin to 3-1 in the sixth on a Morales groundout, and that score held up until Massachusetts Maritime batted around in the decisive eighth frame.  Sophomore Billy Keane (Braintree, Mass.) led off with a bunt single and advanced on sophomore Connor Kennedy’s (West Barnstable, Mass.) single to right field, and after both runners were sacrificed over, Sullo blooped a double to left center to pull the Buccaneers back to within a run at 3-2.  After an intentional walk to junior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.), Gerbis ripped a 1-2 pitch up the middle to plate Kennedy and Sullo for a 4-3 lead.  Freshman Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.) then dropped down a suicide squeeze to score Gerbis, and he reached on a throwing error that allowed Petruzzelli to plate the fifth run of the inning and account for the final margin, sending Massachusetts Maritime to Sunday’s championship round.

Sullo accounted for three of the Buccaneers’ seven hits in the elimination round triumph, as senior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) picked up his second tournament victory in a 24-hour span by working around a hit and striking out two over the final two innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.  Junior Nate Barnes (Westfield, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Beach (Quincy, Mass.) each collected three hits in the setback for Westfield State, which advanced in the tournament with a 7-2 victory over third-seeded Fitchburg State in Saturday’s first elimination round contest.  Senior Justin Thomson (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) suffered his third setback of the season for the Owls, as he allowed six hits and five runs while fanning five over the first 7 1/3 frames of action.

Salem State (22-17-1) received a three-hit shutout performance from senior Matt Abrain (Northbridge, Mass.) in semifinal round play, as the Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead on a throwing error and an RBI single off the bat of sophomore Dan Connors (Danvers, Mass.) before extending that margin to 4-0 in the third on freshman Joe White’s (Bellingham, Mass.) run-scoring single and a suicide squeeze from sophomore Jose Cedano (Lawrence, Mass.).  The hosts iced their triumph with single tallies in the fifth on a wild pitch and in the sixth on senior Mike Davis’s (Peabody, Mass.) sacrifice fly, and Abrain took care of the rest on the mound in scattering three hits and striking out three to improve to 3-2 on the season.  Davis, White, Connors and senior Richard Fecteau (Newbury, Mass.) each had two hits as part of an 11-hit attack for Salem State, which is seeking its third straight MASCAC championship on Sunday.

Freshman Riley Fusaro (Nantucket, Mass.) collected two hits in the semifinal setback for Massachusetts Maritime, which also received a single off the bat of Petruzzelli.  Junior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) allowed three earned runs and recorded a pair of strikeouts over five innings of work on the mound for the Buccaneers, as he saw his personal five-game winning streak come to an end in falling to 5-2 on the spring.