Bock and Post Clutch at Plate in Baseball ECC Loss to C.W. Post
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 30, 2012) – Junior right fielder Andrew Bock (Malverne, N.Y.) sparked the offense with a 3-5 day with two runs, two RBI and a stolen base and sophomore third baseman Ken Post (Closter, N.J.) came up with a clutch hit during his 1-4 performance with a walk, one run and three RBI as the Mercy College baseball team came up short against East Coast Conference foe C.W. Post on Friday afternoon, falling 11-6.
C.W. Post improves to 13-10 overall and 5-0 in the ECC, while Mercy drops to 4-16 (2-3).
C.W. Post threatened to score right away, getting men onto first and second base with two outs, but sophomore Joe O'Neill (Long Beach, N.Y.) got a popup to end the inning. Mercy came out strong too, with Bock singling to lead off, stealing second and advancing to third on a balk for Post to bring home on a groundout to take the 1-0 lead.
O'Neill sat the side down in the top of the second inning but ran into trouble in the third, allowing four straight hits to open the inning that led to two runs. The Pioneers got to him again in the fourth inning but he was able to limit the damage to just one run after a walk and pair of hit-by-pitch calls.
Junior Tom Cummings (Coatesville, Pa.) took over in the fifth inning with mixed results, striking out two but giving up three runs on a walk, two bunt hits and two sharp singles. Mercy's offense finally got back into gear after going hitless over the previous three innings as junior centerfielder Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) led off with a double and advanced to third with a man on second a single and two outs later. Bock came up big at the plate with a two-out single that brought both runners home to cut the lead in half and shortly after Post tripled two more runs in to bring Mercy within one. He came in to score the tying run thanks to a throwing error on the next play before the inning ended.
Freshman Joseph Pareres (Bronxville, N.Y.) relieved Cummings in the sixth and posted a 1-2-3 inning with one strikeout. Mercy came close to taking the lead in the bottom of the frame as sophomore shortstop Jeremy Lovera (Carmel, N.Y.) reached base via a walk with two outs. He broke for second on a pickoff attempt and made it in safely, even advancing to third as the throw went wayward. Unfortunately, Bock was not able to bring him home and Pareres came out for the seventh inning.
After getting a groundout from the first batter, Pareres hit a rought spot with men on first and third. Sophomore left fielder Vincent Iacono (Nesconset, N.Y.) stepped up with two outs and doubled both runners in to give C.W. Post the 8-6 edge.
Freshman second baseman Vinny Orlando (East Meadow, N.Y.) picked up his second walk of the game in the bottom of the seventh and advanced to second as Post also drew a walk. The next three Mavericks were set down in order, however, and mercy still trailed by two.
Senior Walter Kowalczyk (Valhalla, N.Y.) recorded a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the eighth, but surrendered three more runs in the ninth after some trouble fielding a pair of bunts. Despite a leadoff single from Bock in the ninth, Mercy was unable to get on the board again and fell by five.
Orlando finished 1-3 with a pair of walks and one run scored for the Mavericks, while Pareres was tagged with the loss. Junior second baseman Angel Pimentel (New York, N.Y.) was 3-6 with five RBI, one run and a stolen base for the Pioneers while sophomore centerfielder Rich Maccarone (Glen Cove, N.Y.) went 3-5 with three runs and a stolen base as well. Iacono finished 3-3 with a walk, three RBI, one run and a stolen base. Senior Paul Bischoff (Levittown, N.Y.) allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out three over five innings. Sophomore Mike Eckerle (Hewlett, N.Y.) picked up the win after striking out three and walking four in two no-hit innings.
Head Coach Bob Greiner and the Mavericks will look to avenge the loss tomorrow, Saturday, March 31 as they travel to C.W. Post for a doubleheader kickoff off at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
