Salve Regina baseball rolls past Gordon, 15-5; Scots eliminated, Seahawks advance

WENHAM, Mass.—A big first inning spurred sixth-seeded Salve Regina to its second straight upset in the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament, knocking host Gordon out with a 15-5 win. Ryan Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.)  had a standout game for the Seahawks, going 4-for-6 with five runs batted in.

Salve Regina improves to 24-14 on the season and keeps its long winning streak alive into the CCC semifinals. Gordon ends its season at 15-19-1.

The Seahawks carried over the momentum from a Thursday upset of top-seeded Endicott with an explosive first inning. Salve Regina collected eight runs on nine hits in the inning and forced Gordon to change pitchers with only one out in the frame.

Kelly led off the game with a 1-1 single up the middle of the diamond before scooting to third on a hit-and-run single by Alek Kucich (Old Brookville, N.Y.). CCC Player of the Year Alex Perry (No. Attleboro, Mass.) brought both guys home with a single into center field to give Salve a 2-0 lead.

Joe Haley (No. Kingstown, R.I.) kept the hit parade going with another single to push Perry to third. Perry scored on the next play, a groundout to third, to make it 3-0. Daniel Donohue (Westbury, N.Y.) produced the fifth run of the first inning with a trickler through right side to put runners on the corners with one out.

A failed pickoff attempt to get Donohue who was sliding too far toward second at first allowed Haley to advance home on the throw for a 4-0 lead. Singles by John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.), Kelly and Kucich combined to score four more runs, putting the Scots in a significant hole.

The Scots recouped a run in the bottom of the first inning with Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.) stepping on home. Demers struck out, but a dropped third strike and an error by the catcher allowed the Gordon right fielder to go all the way around to third. He ended up scoring on a wild pitch.

After a quiet second inning, Salve Regina struck for more in the third. Militano hit a two-out double with no one on base and came home on a single by Kelly. Salve's leadoff hitter went to second on a walk and scored when Perry looped a single in front of the Gordon left fielder for a 10-1 lead.

Salve Regina increased its lead in the fourth inning with two more runs on a hit by Kelly. A fielder's choice and back-to-back walks juiced the bases with two outs. Kelly stayed hot with his fourth hit of the game on a slow single to second base. The center fielder beat out the throw to first and an error allowed a second to come around to score.

After the Fighting Scots put a run on the board in the seventh thanks to a sacrifice fly by Alonzo Martinez (El Paso, Texas). The Seahawks used a pair of infield miscues that would have gotten the Scots out of the inning to pad their lead further.

Gordon put together a small rally the bottom of the eighth. Demers hit a line-drive single to right field to score Jeremy Jackson (Waco, Texas) from second. Demers' hit got under the glove of the right fielder and Eric Walker (Danvers, Mass.) scored because of the error. Travis Pullen (Las Vegas, Nev.) lined out to deep left, allowing Demers to also score.

Scott Hall (Weymouth, Mass.) took the loss for Gordon, giving up six hits and seven runs in a third of an inning. Cory Poplawski (Syracuse, N.Y.) improved to 4-1 this season by striking out five batters in five innings of work.