Baseball Begins Conference Play by Shutting Out the Pilgrims at Home

HOLYOKE, Mass. - The Elms College Baseball team hosted New England College for their conference opener on Saturday afternoon at Mackenzie Staidum.

BASICS
Score: Elms College 4 | New England College 0
Records: Blazers 6-8, 1-0 (GNAC) | Pilgrims 3-11, 0-1 (GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Senior pitcher Henry Rondon (Ansonia, Conn.) would take the hill for Elms in their conference opener against New England College, pitching seven shutout innings with four strikeouts. In the top of the first inning, the Pilgrims would hit a ground ball to graduate student AJ Cook (Mendon, Mass.) that would turn into a 6-4-3 double play. In the bottom half of the inning, senior outfielder Camron Watkins (East Haddam, Conn.) would record the first hit of the day, followed by a second single in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the score would remain scoreless for the first five innings. Then in the bottom of the sixth inning, with two runners on, senior outfielder George Chaya Jr. (Methuon, Mass.) would ground out to second, but would drive in junior outfielder/pitcher Nason Busca (Windsor, Conn.) for the first run of the game. Then during the next at-bat, Watkins would double down the left field line to drive in Cook. The two conference foes would not score for the next inning and a half, with junior pitcher Colby Arnold (Waterford, Conn.) would come into the game to relieve Rondon, pitching the two final innings with two strikeouts. In the bottom of the eighth, Watkins would hit a triple to center field to drive in Chaya Jr. and first year Brycen Diaz (Andrews, Texas) would get a base hit to drive in Watkins for their final run of the day. In the top of the ninth inning, the Pilgrims would get a runner on with two outs, but Cook would receive a ground ball and get the force out at second base to help Arnold earn the save and the 4-0 victory to begin conference play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Arnold: would pitch two innings, with two strikeouts to earn the save.

• Busca: one for three, with a run scored.

• Chaya Jr.: 0 for two, with a run scored, a run batted-in, and two walks.

• Cook: one for four, with a double and a run scored.

• Diaz: one for four, with a run batted-in.

• J.Perez: one for three.

• Rondon: would pitch seven scoreless innings, with four strikeouts to earn the win.

• Watkins: four for four, with a double, a triple, a run scored, two runs batted-in.

UP NEXT: The Elms Baseball team will host Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday, March 25th for a conference game at 12 pm at Mackenzie Stadium.

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