DETROIT – The NJCAA Region XII Division II Postseason got underway on Thursday (May 8) at Harwell Field in Detroit as Macomb Baseball opened its best-of-three opening round series with Henry Ford. The Monarchs made quick work of the first round, winning game one by a decisive 9-0 tally before taking game two by a 6-3 margin.
JACKSON BOUND
The series win sends the Monarchs to the final site of the Region XII Championship, Jackson College, for a double-elimination tournament that runs Thursday through Saturday (May 15-17) next week. The four-team, double-elimination tournament already has three teams in the field as Macomb, the six seed, is joined by top-seeded Lansing Community College and the five seed, Kellogg Community College.
Lansing swept Hocking and Kellogg took two from Grand Rapids to advance alongside Macomb. The fourth and final team in the field will be decided Friday when second-seeded Cuyahoga takes on the seven-seed, Mid Michigan, in a winner-take-all game three at 1 p.m. Friday in Parma, Ohio.
If Cuyahoga wins, the Monarchs will open play in Jackson at 11 a.m. Thursday against Lansing. A Mid Michigan win would result in an opening matchup with Kellogg at 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
GAME ONE: Macomb 9, Henry Ford 0
Vincent Cowdrey paced a 9-run on 17-hit attack with a 4-for-5 effort that included a pair of doubles and two runs scored, while
Aidan Miller went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Luke Babcock,
Dominic Cavacini and
Matt Hanneman followed with two hits each with Hanneman connecting on his eighth home run of the season midway through the contest.
The Monarchs led 4-0 after one and never looked back in the 9-0 victory and were led on the mound by sophomore
Derek Neufeld who tossed seven scoreless innings before handing off to
Evan Robinson who also blanked the Hawks over the final two frames.
GAME TWO: Macomb 6, Henry Ford 3
Nathan Fidelino got the start and moved to 5-0 on the mound after striking out five in five innings of work. The talented two-way player also went 2-for-4 with an RBI to help himself out in the three-run victory.
Dominic Cavacini continued his strong day at the dish with a 2-for-4 game two and
Ryan McKay equaled the output at 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Jack Saputo, the Monarchs' closer who has only given up one earned run this season, came on for the final six outs and delivered by holding the Hawks without a hit while striking out two to notch his sixth save of the campaign.
STOLEN BASE RECORD
Sophomore outfielder
Adrian Epps recorded three steals in the series to lift his season total to 41 stolen bases, tying a program record that has stood since 1979 (Gary Maccagnone). As a team, the Monarchs ended the day with 144 stolen bases, tying a team program mark that was set in 2015.
