Kwedor Earns Shutout, Kennedy Collects 100th Career Hit As Baseball Splits MASCAC Twinbill At MCLA

MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Monday, April 17, 2017

Joe Zavattaro Complex, North Adams, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 8, MCLA 0

GAME #2 FINAL:          MCLA 6, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 5

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. --  Sophomore Brian Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.) tossed a complete-game seven-hitter and struck out three to lift Massachusetts Maritime to an 8-0 victory over MCLA in the opener of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader played Monday afternoon at the Joe Zavattaro Complex.  The host Trailblazers gained a split of the twinbill when junior Brett LaBonte (Wareham, Mass.) scored on a walk-off error for a 6-5 MCLA nightcap triumph.

The visiting Buccaneers (9-10, 4-4 MASCAC) took control of the lid-lifter with a five-run third inning rally, as an error, a passed ball and a wild pitch produced three tallies that were followed by a steal of home by sophomore Kevin Troy (Braintree, Mass.) and an RBI single off the bat of freshman Matt Langan (North Easton, Mass.).  Massachusetts Maritime extended that margin to 7-0 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by junior Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) and an RBI single by sophomore Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.), and the visitors closed out the scoring in the fifth on a passed ball.  Kwedor took care of the rest on the mound for the Buccaneers, as he stranded five base runners in the final two innings to complete the shutout and improve to 3-2 on the season.

Kennedy, Sances and junior Casey Furnas (Boca Raton, Fla.) each had two of Massachusetts Maritime’s 10 hits in the opening triumph, while seniors Myles Candelet (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Bill Pulasky (Pittsfield, Mass.) recorded two hits each as part of MCLA’s seven safeties.  Sophomore Brendan Kelly (Averill Park, N.Y.) fell to 1-3 with the setback on the mound for the Trailblazers, as he allowed six earned runs and fanned four over three-plus innings of work.

The Buccaneers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first at-bat of the nightcap, as Kennedy led off the game with his 100^th career hit (a double) before scoring on an error.  Freshman Jackson Simone (Seattle, Wash.) forced in the second run by drawing a bases loaded walk, and Troy scored on Langan’s fielder’s choice to cap the early uprising.  MCLA evened matters in the bottom of the first on Candelet’s two-run single and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch by junior Joe DiMassimo (Dalton, Mass.), and the hosts took a 5-3 third inning advantage with a run in the second on a suicide squeeze from freshman Joe Toledo (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Candelet’s run-scoring single.  That margin held up until the sixth when Massachusetts Maritime knotted the score at 5-5 on a two-run double by Sances, but the Trailblazers plated the deciding tally in the bottom of the seventh when freshman Christian Seariac (Framingham, Mass.) singled, advanced to second on a Pulasky single and scored on a two-out fielding error.

Candelet and junior Nick DiSanti (Pittsfield, Mass.) each had two of MCLA’s six second game hits, as freshman Austin Miller (Florida, Mass.) tossed an inning and a third of scoreless relief to pick up the win and improve to 2-1 on the season.  Langan and senior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) added hits in the nightcap setback for the Buccaneers, as Simone added a single at the plate and suffered the tough-luck decision on the mound in relief.  Junior Justin Nichols (Adams, Mass.) kept Massachusetts Maritime in the contest by holding the Trailblazers scoreless over three one-hit relief innings that included four strikeouts in his hometown.

Massachusetts Maritime heads to Worcester, Mass. on Tuesday afternoon to take on Clark in a non-league outing that begins at 3:30 p.m., while MCLA hosts Lasell in a non-league doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Joe Wolfe Field beginning at 3:00 p.m.