Brockport Baseball Stays Alive in NCAA Play
BOXSCORE
The College at Brockport’s baseball team knew it had a lineup full of clutch hitters, guys who deliver when the game is on the line.
After all, these Golden Eagles averaged 5.9 runs per game heading into the New York Regional of the NCAA Division III tournament, yet their bats were silenced during a 2-0 loss to Eastern Connecticut State during the first game of the double-elimination competition.
Brockport’s (28-13) bats woke up in a big way during its second game of regionals, and the offensive explosion allowed the Golden Eagles’ season to continue with a dominant 10-0 win over Mitchell (CT) College (23-11-1) on a rainy, overcast day at Falcon Park in Auburn, NY.
Senior Zach Prentice (Auburn, NY/Auburn), who grew up along the shores of Owasco Lake not too far from Falcon Park, went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and three RBI for the Golden Eagles, who scored in five of the first six innings to take an 8-0 lead.
Senior Tom McCormick (Utica, NY/Utica Notre Dame) was 3-for-5 with two RBI for Brockport, which advances to face the loser of the Keystone/SUNY Farmingdale contest at 1:15 p.m. Friday afternoon back at Falcon Park.
“This is my hometown, and I know this park so well. I felt like I had tons of confidence at the plate, and whatever the pitcher threw me, I felt I was going to hit it,” said Prentice, who played three years of high school baseball games at Falcon Park.
“It feels good to do this in my hometown. It feels great to play so well at home, but at the same time, I don’t want to press (because I’m playing at home). I just wanted to hit the ball hard, and luckily when I hit the ball hard, the hits fell.”
The win was the 100th career victory for Justin Beach, Brockport’s four-year head coach.
Junior Corey Booth (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored while senior Max Zimmerman (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) was 2-for-5 with a run scored for Brockport, which rapped out 15 hits.
Brockport took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Sophomore Jake Coleman (Hilton, NY/Hilton) led off with a walk, stole second base, advanced to third on a throwing error and crossed the place on Booth’s RBI single.
Prentice pushed the lead to 2-0 on a towering one-out, solo home run over the left field fence, his third round-tripper of 2011, which pushed him into a tie with Zimmerman for most home runs on the team this year.
“I just felt like I was in a zone today, I was locked in and was able to come through with some big hits for our team,” said Prentice, whose home run came on a 2-2 fastball.
“To score early was a huge confidence booster. We’ve been struggling to score runs early in the game, so it felt good to throw that first punch.”
Sophomore Mike Weakley (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Brockport’s first-team All-State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) third baseman, made it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly before Prentice hit an RBI single for a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
“They came out and had some big, clutch hits today. We created opportunities and we cashed in and got it done at the plate,” Beach said. “We always say keep cashing in and keep tacking on the runs, no matter how big the lead is. We need to find ways to keep scoring and keep putting pressure on the defense.”
The Green and Gold added two more runs in the fifth. Freshman Kyle Tracy (Plainview, NY/Bethpage) reached on a one-out single, Prentice reached on a fielding error and McCormick drove home Tracy with an RBI single through the left side of the infield. It was 6-0 after Prentice scored on a throwing error after stealing third base.
The game was delayed an hour and 35 minutes by rain and lightning, but when the game resumed, Brockport’s bats picked up where they had left off.
Booth led off the sixth with a single, and after a pop out, Booth stole second base. With two outs in the inning, sophomore Stephen Boronczyk (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) walked and Prentice followed with an RBI single that plated Booth for a 7-0 lead. Boronczyk moved to third on the play and later scored on McCormick’s RBI single into center field.
Senior Max Keado (Troy, NY/Catholic Central) and Booth added back-to-back RBI doubles to finish the scoring at 10-0.
Junior Aaron Tilley (Troy, NY/Troy) started and held Mitchell scoreless on two hits with six strikeouts over four solid innings pitched. Junior Anthony Siracusa (Auburn, NY/Auburn) relieved Tilley and allowed only one base hit over three shutout innings of relief, and John Lowe (Kingston, NY/Kingston), James Williamson (Mexico, NY/Mexico) and Mike Potenza (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell) combined for two scoreless innings of relief.
Brockport’s pitchers retired Mitchell 1-2-3 in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Leading 8-0, Mitchell loaded the bases with only one out before Williamson got a strikeout and a pop out to end the threat.
“(Aaron) Tilley gave us a great start today, and he could have gone back out there after the ran delay, but I felt it was a good time to bring (Anthony) Siracusa in,” Beach said.“We lost a lot of the momentum we had by going into the rain delay, but for Siracusa to shut them down that first inning back, we regained a lot of that lost momentum. Our entire pitching staff did their part today to help us win, it was a huge performance.”
The Golden Eagles are 3-2 all-time against Keystone, including a 9-5 loss during the 2011 spring training trip to Florida. Brockport and SUNY Farmingdale have never played each other.
