Golden Bears squeak by Seahawks in 11 innings

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Senior center-fielder Andrew Fatse (Hampden, Mass.) drove in the winning run with an infield single with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give top-seeded Western New England a dramatic 3-2 victory over fifth-seeded Salve Regina Friday afternoon in an elimination game of The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Baseball Championship.

The Golden Bears (34-9) will host fourth-seeded Wentworth at 11:00 a.m. Saturday in the next round of the tournament. The Leopards are 2-0 in the tournament after defeating WNE 7-1 on Thursday.

Fatse, who was batting first in the lineup for the first time this season, also delivered the tying hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Western New England shortstops Kyle McKelvey (Schenectady, N.Y.) and freshman Jeff Schult (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) also played pivotal roles. McKelvey finished with two hits.

Down to their final strike in the ninth, McKelvey (who bats right) singled down the right-field line and Schult entered the game as a pinch-runner. Sophomore second baseman Tim Clark (West Springfield, Mass.) (who bats left) singled down the left-field line as Schult took third on the play. Fatse then singled to center to tie the contest.

The Golden Bears used another two-out rally in the 11th against SRU senior Craig Silva (Marlborough, Mass.), who entered the game the previous inning in relief. Silva got the first two outs on strikeouts before Schult hit a short pop-up that fell in short center in the middle of three fielders. The speedy Schult made it to second with a double. Clark then reached on an error as Schult moved to third.

That set the stage for Fatse who hit a hard grounder between first and second that senior second baseman Charles Matarazzo (Montville, N.J.) made a great play to knock the ball down, but Fatse beat the throw as Schult scored the winning run.

The Seahawks, who defeated eighth-seeded 3-2 in 10 innings on Thursday, took a 1-0 lead in the first when Matarazzo singled to lead-off the game and scored when senior shortstop Alexander Melcher (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) followed with a double to left center. Western New England tied the game in the third with an unearned run when Fatse led-off with a walk and came around to score on a ground-out by senior catcher Jason Leclerc (Chicopee, Mass.).

Salve Regina took a 2-1 lead when Melcher singled leading off the sixth, advanced to second on an infield out, moved to third on a wild pitch, and came home on a RBI single by senior left-fielder Matt Capone (East Providence, R.I.).

Senior Brandon Bursie (Smithfield, R.I.) started and had an impressive outing allowing just three hits with no earned runs in 6.2 innings. He walked three and struck out seven. Bursie was lifted in the seventh after throwing 119 pitches. Sophomore Daniel Kehew (Portsmouth, R.I.) followed before giving way to Silva (2-3) who took the loss. The three pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts.

Freshman right-fielder Tyler Colby (Easton, Conn.) added two hits for the Seahawks.

Western New England senior starter Evan Michaud (Windsor Locks, Conn.) also had a terrific outing going seven innings and giving up two runs with six hits, no walks, and three strikeouts.

Junior Mike Lawlor (Windsor, Conn.) again was brilliant in relief with four scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits, no walks, and fanned seven in raising his record to 2-1.

Courtesy of Western New England sports information