AMCATS Erupt for 23-4 win vs. Nighthawks

PAXTON, Mass. - The Anna Maria College baseball team had five players collect three hits as they defeated Newbury College by a score of 23-4 at Alumni Field on Wednesday evening. The win improves the AMCATS' overall record to 5-10-1, while their conference record remains at 1-3. The loss drops the Nighthawks, who have yet to play a conference game, to 1-9 on the season.

Junior Jeff Lander (Gloucester, Mass.) led the offensive attack for the AMCATS going 3-4 with three runs scored and four RBI, including a two run homer to deep left center field. Sophomore Andy Fallon (Worcester, Mass.) also had an excellent day at the dish, going 3-5 with four runs scored and three runs batted in. Sophomore Brendon Tivnan (Worcester, Mass.), junior JK Vaughn (Simsbury, Conn.), and sophomore Jeff Kodys (Holden, Mass.) each contributed with three hits apiece in the win. On the mound, starting pitcher Brian Richard (Auburn, Mass.) was terrific, tossing five shutout innings while allowing just two hits to earn his first victory of the season, improving to 1-0.

Senior Evan Hudson (Sunapee, N.H.) paced the Nighthawks with three hits in four at bats and a run scored. Freshman Alex Chetelat (Farmington, Conn.) also had a strong game going 1-3 with a two-run homer to center field in the sixth inning. Freshman starter Shawon Cave (El Mirage, Ariz.) took the loss for the Nighthawks after pitching 4.1 innings, dropping his season record to 0-2.

The AMCATS jumped on the board first with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the second inning, including an RBI single by Lander.

After scoring once in the third and twice in the fourth, Anna Maria exploded for 10 runs on nine hits in the fifth. Sophomore Jim McNamara (Worcester, Mass.) and shortstop Andy Fallon each had two-run singles in the inning, while sophomore Alex Roycewicz (Oxford, Mass.) added a two-run triple to right center.

The Nighthawks fought back with three runs in the top of the sixth, including a two-run blast by Chetelat, but the AMCATS responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning and five more runs in the seventh to put the game away. 

Newbury will take the field again on Saturday at home in a doubleheader versus Southern Vermont starting at 12:00 pm. Anna Maria will be back in action tomorrow, traveling to take on Fitchburg State at 4:00 pm.

- Game story submitted by Stephen Readey, SID - Anna Maria College