BOX SCORE
Boyertown, Pa. (May 3, 2008) – Senior first baseman
Andrew Materia (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) stroked three doubles and senior starter
Mike Rossi (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) pitched around early trouble to lead third-seeded Centenary College to a 6-2 win over #4 Misericordia University Saturday morning in the first elimination game of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Baseball Championships at Bear Stadium.
Misericordia missed plenty of chances in the early goings to get on the board against Rossi leaving eight runners on base through the first three innings.
Mike Murphy (East Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches) drew a walk to open the game and advanced on a sacrifice bunt.
Mike D’Amara (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches) walked to put a pair on, but Rossi got back-to-back groundouts to third base to end the inning.
Centenary scored its first run of the day in the home half of the first.
Mark DeMaio (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills) led off with a single up the middle. He stole second, took third when the throw from the catcher went into centerfield, and scored on a wild pitch.
Misericordia put the tying run on with a one-out single and moved him up with a walk. Murphy reached on an infield single to load the bases with two outs, but Rossi got out of trouble again with a ground ball to third.
Brandon Calafut (Carbondale, Pa./Lakeland) hit his first of two doubles with one out in the third and moved to third on a single by
Jamie Philippi (Rome, Pa./Northeast Bradford). Rossi hit
Brian Matthews (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion Area) to load the bases with two outs, but stranded the runners on a fly ball down the right field line.
Centenary tacked on a run in the fourth inning on a pair of doubles.
Mark Cerrachio (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) opened the inning with a two-base hit and after a fly ball to center, Materia hit his second of three doubles in the game to plate Cerrachio.
The Cyclones added a third run in the fifth getting a leadoff triple from
William Geltzeiler (Rumson, N.J./Rumson-Fairhaven) and a sacrifice fly, but Misericordia finally crossed the plate with a pair of runs in the sixth to pull within one, 3-2.
Brian Crum (State College, Pa./State College Area) was hit to start the inning and Murphy walked with one out.
Chris Messa (Red Bank, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) flied out and it looked like the Cougars were destined to stand two more, but D’Amara came through with a two-run double to the gap in left center that signaled the end of the day for Rossi.
Ben Jurgensen (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) replace Rossi and struck out Calafut to strand the runner.
The Centenary offense put the Cyclone fans at ease with three runs in the seventh to take a 6-2 lead. Geltzeiler was hit by a pitch and scored on a
Jared Grant (Flander, N.J./CC of Morris) double, and designated hitter
Michael Fasano (Hawthorne, N.J./St. Joseph’s Regional) hit a two-run home run to dead center.
Centenary advances to the losers’ bracket final and will play at 7:00 Saturday evening against the loser of Game 4 between #1 Alvernia and #2 Gwynedd-Mercy.
#3 Centenary 6, #4 Misericordia 2