WARREN – What a day in Warren! Macomb Baseball earned a Sophomore Day sweep over the Jackson College Jets and won a share of back-to-back MCCAA Conference Championships for the first time since the 1994 and 1995 campaigns with a 14-2 game one win and an 8-5 comeback victory in game two. The pair of wins locked up a share of the MCCAA Eastern Conference crown and secured the Monarchs' postseason spot in the process.
The Monarchs will begin the postseason on the road Thursday (May 8) for an opening round best-of-three series. All postseason games in the upcoming NJCAA Region XII Tournament are 9-inning contests. The first two 9-inning games are scheduled for May 8 with the 'if necessary' game three slated for May 9.
The winner of the best-of-three opening round series moves on to Jackson College—the site of the Final Four for the NJCAA Region XII Tournament—May 15-17 for a double-elimination tournament against the opening weekend victors.
The Monarchs' opponent, while widely known unofficially, will be announced by the Region on Monday.
GAME ONE: Macomb 14, Jackson 2 (5 inn.)
The Monarchs were unstoppable early, posting a 12-run first inning on their way to a 14-2 run-rule victory in Saturday's opener.
Nathan Fidelino led the Monarch attack with a 3-for-3 opener that included a pair of doubles and two RBIs.
Vincent Cowdrey,
Ryan McKay and
Nicholas Sandiha Jr. followed with two hits each with Sandiha hitting an inside-the-park home run and a double in the 14-run outburst.
Aidan Miller went 1-for-3 with an RBI double, and
Adrian Epps brought two runs home, one via sac fly, in the win.
Johnathan Meyette came on in relief and earned the win to improve to 4-2 on the season. Meyette struck out three Jets and only allowed one earned in three innings pitched.
GAME TWO: Macomb 8, Jackson 5
Down 5-0 early, the Monarchs chipped away to tie it in the fifth inning and
Ryan McKay hit the game-winning, 3-run home run later in the frame in an 8-5 comeback victory. A
Dane Richards 2-RBI single down the left field line tied the game and set the table for McKay's go-ahead blast.
Jack Saputo entered the game in the fourth and continued his lights-out sophomore campaign by not allowing a run while scattering three hits and striking out five batters. The effort led Saputo to his third win of the season.
McKay and Richards drove in three runs each to pace the Monarchs to the 8-5 championship-clinching win.
