Throw out everything you thought you knew about northeast baseball in February. This one couldn’t have been any more opposite.
In a game featuring two Division-II programs known for their pitching in a conference dominated by pitching in a climate conducive to low-scoring games, this one bucked the trend and it turned into a football score in which the Franklin Pierce Ravens edged the Adelphi Panthers, 20-17.
It was Opening Day for the Panthers, coming off one of their best seasons in program history so there was a great turnout despite the weather.
Nic Luc got the ball for Adelphi, but the Ravens did not wait long to get on the board. Jonel Ozuna clubbed a two-out, two-run shot to right field to take an early 2-0 lead. That was not the last time we heard from him this afternoon and that was just the beginning of the fireworks.
2-R shot by Jonel Ozuna gives Franklin Pierce an early 2-0 lead @FPUathletics pic.twitter.com/zsDxdOMyGF
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 29, 2020
Adelphi got one back in the bottom of the inning. Matt Alifano, member of Center Moriches undefeated team last season, opened the game with a double to right-center in his first collegiate at bat. He came around to score on a sac fly by Lawrence Cicileo. In the bottom of the second, Adelphi took the lead when Alifano came up with the bases loaded and sliced one down the right field line to score two runs and give them a 3-2 lead. They added two more, on an RBI ground out and an error to make it 5-2.
Typically, this is the type of lead safe when it’s blustery and a pitcher is throwing in the low 90s, but that was not the case today.
Franklin Pierce put together a crooked number, thanks to an RBI double by Charles Lebron, RBI single by Ozuna and a two-run double by pinch-hitter Tyler Patane. He is a transfer from St. Thomas Aquinas and a graduate of Sachem North.
Farmingdale grad James Boria gave the Ravens the lead with an RBI double in the 5th inning. They added another on a fielder’s choice.
In the home half of the fifth, Adelphi tied it again on a two-run double by Brandon Warick to score Tyler Becker and Cicileo. It seemed like it would be a tight game for 9 innings, but Franklin Pierce wound up breaking the game open over the course of the next three innings.
Lebron and Ozuna went back-to-back jacks in the 6th to make it 9-7, and while the Panthers got one back in the 6th on a Tim Feliz sac fly to score Nick Gavilla, that was short lived.
The Ravens posted six runs in the 7th inning, four in the 8th and one in the 9th to open up a 20-8 lead.
Coach Scala began to make some substitutions to get some ABs for players on bench. And that’s exactly what the offense needed to get re-ignited.
What started out with an innocent walk to pinch-hitter Jose Matos was actually the genesis of a remarkable comeback attempt. A bases loaded walk to Dom Paolo got the Panthers on the board and cut the deficit to 11. Warick stepped up and crushed another 2-run double to make it 20-11. While this seemed inconsequential, it led to another two-run double by Tim O’Connor to make it 20-13. Vincent Romano laced an RBI single to make it 20-14 and Jose Matos – now batting for the second time in the inning – followed with a two-run double to make it 20-16.
Now things were officially interesting.
Pinch-hitter Dillon Kim followed with yet another RBI double, to make it 20-17. A four pitch walk to Paolo brought the tying run to the plate. A pitching change only added to the drama. But that was as close as they would get. Pinch-hitter Robby Affenita III grounded back to the pitcher to close the door on the rally.
Patrick Hannon earned the ‘W’, while Andrew Williams was tagged with the loss.
The Panthers actually out-hit Franklin Pierce, 18-17, but they couldn’t come up with the last clutch hit. Five players notched multi-hit games for the Panthers. They fall to 0-1 on the season, Franklin Pierce is 4-2. These two teams will be back in action tomorrow for a doubleheader (two seven inning games) beginning at 1 pm.
