Marinelli Wins Game On Walk-Off Single To Plate Christopher

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Sophomore Nick Marinelli (Ellicott City, MD/Marriotts Ridge) delivered a one-out walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to plate freshman Matt Christopher (Kennett Square, PA/Unionville) to give host Washington College a 6-5 win over visiting McDaniel on Friday afternoon in Centennial Conference baseball action at Athey Baseball Park.  The Shoremen improve to 17-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference, while the Green Terror drop to 11-5 and 0-2 respectively.  The 17 wins is the most in the history of the program after 19 games and it is also the first time WC has swept the season series from McDaniel in five years. 

McDaniel led 3-0 going into the last of the eighth when the Shoremen scored five times to take a 5-3 lead.  Junior Sean Connole (Mt. Airy, MD/St. John's Catholic) scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1 with one out.  The Shoremen loaded the bases with two outs in the frame and freshman Scott Matthews (Goshen, NY/Don Bosco Prep (NJ) smacked his second home run of the season over the left field fence to put the hosts up by two runs at 5-3.  Both of Matthews' home runs this year have been grand slams.  There were two errors in the inning by McDaniel that helped WC score the five runs.

The Green Terror would rally to tie the game with two runs of their own in the top of the ninth with the help of four walks and an error.  McDaniel's first two batters walked and then Pat Christopher hit into a fielder's choice.  Pat Christopher was able to reach first and then took second and third base via a bad throw by Washington.  On the play, Tyler Jackow scored from second base to cut the lead to 5-4 with one away.  With Joe Fiore at the dish, Pat Christopher scored on a wild pitch to level the game at 5-5.  The Green Terror had two on with two away, but Matt Christopher got Marshall Betts to fly out to deep right to keep the score even.

In the bottom of the ninth, Matt Christopher led off with a single to right field and took second on a wild pitch.  Connole advanced Matt Christopher to third on a sacrifice bunt.  Marinelli then delivered the winning hit on a 2-0 count to deep center to plate Matt Christopher and give Washington the win.

McDaniel took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Betts cranked his fourth home run of the year over the fence in left.  The Green Terror made it 2-0 in the sixth when Betts singled to left to chase home Ricky LaSota.  LaSota singled up the middle with two away in the top of the seventh to drive in Brandon Hayward and put McDaniel up 3-0.  The score would stay that way until the last of the eighth.

For Washington, Matthews paced the offense with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with a game-high four RBI and also scored a run.  Connole and Marinelli each had two hits and a run scored in the victory, with Marinelli driving in one run, the winning run.  The hosts had 11 hits in the triumph.  WC had 11 hits in the win.  On the mound, Matt Christopher got the win in relief and goes to 2-0.  He faced one batter in the top of the ninth where he recorded the final out of the inning.

Betts went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored for the Green Terror.  LaSota went 2-for-5 with a run and RBI for the visitors.  McDaniel recorded eight hits in the contest.  On the mound, Matt Bejsiuk took the loss and falls to 0-1 as he pitched the bottom of the ninth.

Both teams turned three double plays in the game.

The Shoremen return to action on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Ursinus for a Centennial Conference doubleheader with first pitch slated for 12:30 p.m.  The twinbill was pushed back a day due to expected rain in the Collegeville, PA area tomorrow.