ECAC CHAMPS!
May 21, 2005
Bridgewater, MA - In game one, Endicott College junior Matt Bishop (Woburn, Mass.) tossed a 10-inning complete-game seven hitter and drove in the tying and winning runs as the Gulls, seeded fourth, upended number eight seed Brandeis University in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III New England Baseball Tournament, 5-4, in 10 innings. Endicott advanced to the championship game against Babson College, who defeated Keene State 5-3 in 11 innings, and improves to 27-15, while Brandeis closes out its campaign with a 20-17 record.
The Judges got on the board early against Bishop, scoring two runs in the third inning. Junior Phil Aurigemma (Westborough, MA) led off with a walk, but got erased on a fielder's choice by senior Chris Navis (Walpole, MA). Rookie Chuck Sheehan (Lexington, MA) reached on an error and junior Zach Golden (Milton, MA) made the Gulls pay with a two-run double. That double tied Golden with three other players for Brandeis's single-season record with 19 two-baggers.
Endicott got on the scoreboard against Brandeis rookie Tyler Robinson (Manitock, Ont.) in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI fielder's choice by rookie Gavin Softic (Athol, MA). The Gulls went on to load the bases in the inning, but Robinson struck out the next two batters swinging to escape more damage.
EC tied the game in the sixth inning, loading the bases again. Brandeis closer Bryan Lambert (Auburn, ME), the NCAA Division III leader in saves, was summoned from first base, but he allowed a single through the right side to senior Pat Vincent (Manchester, NH) to even the score, 2-2.
Brandeis bounced right back in the top of the seventh, however, plating two more runs. With one away, Sheehan walked and stole second. Golden followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and sophomore Jon Winston (Nanuet, NY) doubled to drive in Sheehan, while Golden came around on an error in the outfield.
In the late innings against Lambert, Endicott took advantage of four Brandeis errors to score three unearned runs. With two out in the seventh, back-to-back singles and a pair of infield errors allowed freshman Dan Gomez (E. Longmeadow, MA) to score and trim the lead to 4-3. In the eighth, an overplayed ball on junior Kevin Donahue's (Reading, MA) one-out single allowed the runners to advance to second and third, costing the Judges a tie on Bishop's ensuing sacrifice fly. Finally, in the bottom of the tenth inning, a dropped foul ball with one out and one on extended an at-bat by Kevin Donahue, who singled Vincent to third. Bishop then drove home the game-winner on the first pitch of the at bat with a single to left field.
Bishop was the star of the game, scattering seven hits and striking out nine while walking four in 10 innings of work to improve to 5-0 on the season. At the plate, he was 2-5 with two RBI and a sacrifice fly. Three Endicott players had three-hit games, most notably Vincent's 3-6 performance with two runs scored and an RBI.
For Brandeis, Golden had the only multi-hit game, going 2-3 with two RBI, a run scored, a double and a stolen base. Winston was 1-5 with a double and an RBI. Robinson struck out seven in 5.2 innings of work, allowing just two runs and seven hits. Lambert gave up nine hits in 3 2/3 innings, allowing three unearned runs while striking out four. He ends the season with a 2-5 mark.
In game two, The Endicott College Gulls captured the 2005 ECAC Division III New England Tournament Championship as they defeated the Beavers of Babson College, 4-3, in the tournament title game. Senior Jon Trowt (Beverly, MA) had a solid game on the mound as he hurled a complete game six-hitter. Trowt allowed three runs, only two of which were earned, he walked two and struck out four as he finished the season with a record of 2-1.
Endicott (28-15) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as senior Pat Vincent (Manchester, NH) led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a bunt single by junior Kevin Donahue (Reading, MA). After a pair of outs, freshman Dan Gomez (E. Longmeadow, MA) came through with a clutch two-out RBI single to left to put the Gulls on top. EC pushed the lead to 3-0 in the second as sophomore Steve Vidmosko (Shelton, CT) started the rally with a two-out single. Vincent was hit by a pitch to out runners on first and second, and Donahue delivered a bases-clearing double to the fence in left field.
Babson (22-19) cut the deficit to 3-1 in the third as they took advantage of the first of five Endicott errors on the day. Sophomore Matt Chatterton (Fall River, MA) reached on an infield error and one out later moved to third on a base hit by fellow sophomore Billy Schmitt (Fairview, NJ). Chatterton would come around to score on a fielder's choice RBI groundout by freshman Matt Delaney (Newton, MA). The Gulls got the run right back in the bottom of the inning as senior Greg Allain (Berlin, NH) belted a solo home run well over the right-field fence to give Endicott the 4-1. Allain's blast would ultimately prove to be the game-winning run.
Babson would make it interesting in the sixth as they pushed across a pair of runs. Freshman Robbie Leer (Edina, MN) drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI double to right and fellow rookie Jay Verrill (Auburn, ME) followed with a sacrifice fly to pull the Beavers to within a run at 4-3. That would, however, be as close as they would get as Trowt shut the door the rest of the way as he allowed just a pair of base runners over the last three innings, both of whom reached on errors.
Babson freshman reliever Sam Whelan (Milton, MA) was terrific out of the bullpen for the Beavers as he gave his team a chance to get back in the game. Whelan hurled 5 2/3 shutout innings after entering the game in the third allowing just one hit and striking out four. He retired the first 15 batters he faced before giving up a harmless two-out single in the eighth.
With the title victory, the Gulls set a single season victory record at 28, surpassing last year's total of 27. The four seniors also have the distinction of being the first class of Endicott baseball players to win 100 games in their careers (24 in '02, 21 in '03, 27 in '04 and 28 in '05).