Pitching Runs Thin as Nighthawks Fall to Tigers

The Newbury College baseball team closed out their Spring Break trip in Florida with a double-header loss to Sewanee: The University of the South, 11-4 and 15-1, Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Nighthawks to 1-6 on the season.

In the first game, the Tigers jumped on freshman starter Zach Griesche early. Centerfielder Alan Komoroski beat out a chopper to short and advanced to second on a base hit by shortstop Connor Liston. Second baseman Taylor Irwin plated both Komoroski and Liston with a deep drive to left center for a double. Two batters later Irwin came in to score on a base hit back up the middle by Chase Riemer. Rascoe Dean would drive in Riemer for the fourth and final run of the inning with a single.

Newbury closed the deficit to one in the bottom of the first. After two quick outs, sophomore catcher Patrick Curry worked a walk to begin the two-out rally. Off on the pitch, Curry advanced to third on Sewanee pitcher Greg Bartleski’s wild pitch. Curry came home to score the first Nighthawk run on a base hit to right field by sophomore left fielder Michael Dean. Breaking for second on the pitch to the plate, Dean went to third on another wild pitch by Bartleski and came around to score on an infield single by sophomore centerfielder Kyle Schiavone.

The Tigers would add to their lead in the top of the second as right fielder Joe Reilly led off the inning with a base hit to right field. After swiping both second and third, Liston drove him in lifting a sacrifice fly to right field for the fifth Sewanee run. 

They would get that run back in the bottom half of the inning. Shortstop Russell DeMatties hit a one-out single to center to bring the line-up back around to the top. Designated hitter Joshua Caswell walked and advanced to second on a base hit by Curry. Dean kept the inning alive lining a base hit back where it came from to drive in DeMatties with the fourth Newbury run. After falling down in the count 0-2, Schiavone battled back to bring the count back to full before ending the bases loaded threat with a strike out.

Both pitchers settled down after a rocky first two innings. Griesche worked his way out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the top of the fifth, his last inning of work. He finished the game allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out three before turning the game over to sophomore Jorge Pimentel.

In relief of Griesche, Pimentel gave up a lead-off double to the ninth batter right fielder Joe Reilly and came around to score on Komorowski’s inside the park homerun to deep centerfield. The Tigers got another run on an Irwin base hit to right which drove home Liston who followed the inside park homerun with a triple to give themselves the 8-4 lead. Sewanee added three more runs in the top of the seventh to give them the comfortable 11-4 lead and the victory.

In the second game of the afternoon, the Tigers jumped on the board first. Liston lined a one-out double to the base of the right field wall. After a single by Irwin, shortstop Russell DeMatties prevented what could have been a big inning with a leaping grab of liner off the bat of Franklin Pogue. Nighthawks starter freshman Christopher Ninteau escaped the inning allowing just one run as Riemer plated Liston with the game’s first run.

Newbury would get that run back in the bottom of the half. Sophomore first baseman Alex Chetelat drove a triple to deep center and scored on freshman designated hitter Michael Marcelynas’s base hit to right.

The Tigers re-gained the lead in the second as Thomas Pillow led off the inning with a base hit to third. He scored all the way from first on a double down the third base line by catcher Michael Joseph. After giving up a hit to Reilly and walking Komorowski, Joseph scored Sewanee’s third run of het game on a wild pitch. They would bat around in the inning and knock Ninteau out the ballgame to put up nine on the scoreboard to take the 10-1 advantage. It was all Sewanee from that point as they added two more runs in the third and three in the in sixth to walk away with the 15-1 win.

Despite the loss, freshman pitcher Matthew Clawson pitched two solid innings in relief of Ninteau. Clawson gave up just two hits and struck out four Tigers while allowing just two walks.