Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
With a full count, two outs and the bases loaded, Springfield College left fielder Noah Diamond turned to chase a ball that had been barreled by Western New England’s Sean Jamieson. Sprinting back, he turned to see the ball soaring over his head as it bounced off the left field fence. The result was a bases clearing, three run triple that gave Western New England a lead they would not relinquish.
This hit gave the Golden Bears the advantage they needed to end up defeating the Springfield College baseball team by a score of 7-3 on Monday afternoon at Archie Allen Field, in the Pride’s first regular season contest of the season.
“Tip the cap to [Jamieson], he got a big hit in a big spot to win the game for them,” Springfield head coach Mark Simeone said.
The Pride struck first to start the game, with a leadoff double in the bottom of the first by senior Joe Traversa, who was driven in by the next batter, Michael Barrett. After Barrett stole second, Cadin Maynard drove him in with a single to give the Pride an early two-run lead in the first inning.
“We had some really good at bats, especially early,” Simeone said.
The Golden Bears responded however, with a run in second inning courtesy of an Aaron Cole sacrifice fly, and two more in the third, with Cody Waterbury delivering an RBI triple to drive CJ Willis in. Paul Villecco followed that with a sacrifice fly, bringing Waterbury home.
Springfield answered in the bottom half of the third, with Barrett’s legs. After beating out an infield single on a very close play at first, Barrett proceeded to steal second, then advanced to third and scored on wild pitches by Western New England pitcher Kevin Hummer.
“[Barrett]’s a great player, he has a good approach and can hit to all fields, and then can put himself in scoring position like he did today,” Simeone said. “He’s going to be huge for us this season.”
The middle innings featured little scoring, with great pitching by Hummer for the Golden Bears and by Blake Roberge and Ian Benoit for the Pride.
In the sixth, with the bases loaded and Colby Welch on the mound for the Pride, John Bova smoked a liner to right field, but Andrew McCarty was there to make an incredible leaping catch.
“We made some great plays defensively, that one probably stuck out the most,” Simeone said.
In the top of the eighth, following a leadoff walk issued to Western New England’s Jake Gerraughty by Springfield’s Jack DeGirolamo, Kohtaro Shimada’s bunt attempt was thrown wide of first base by DeGirolamo, allowing the runners to reach second and third.
After forcing consecutive groundouts, DeGirolamo intentionally walked Willis to create a bases loaded situation, and Simeone brought in lefty Jarrad Coyne to face the left handed hitting Jamieson, who promptly hit the key triple to win the game. Following a Coyne balk he scored to give the Golden Bears a 7-3 lead, and the damage had been done.
“We pop that guy up or strike him out, we are probably still playing,” Simeone said.
Jared Kuryan conceded a leadoff Ryan Sorgi single in the top of the 8th, and that was the last baserunner the Pride had, as Kevin Gower grounded into a double play two pitches later, and Kuryan struck out the next batter. He then retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure the Golden Bears the win.
“Both sides really competed today, and we always play good games vs Western New England,” Simeone said.
This was the Pride’s lone matchup with their crosstown rival, after their doubleheader against the Golden Bears that was scheduled for March 4 was canceled due to snow and cold temperatures.
This loss dropped the Pride to a record of 0-1, and they are next scheduled to play March 7 at 3 p.m. against Amherst at Archie Allen Field, their last game before their trip to Florida over spring break.
Photo Courtesy Springfield College Athletics