“Bedlam in Garden City!” 🎙 pic.twitter.com/QSgF1oLDER
— Adelphi Baseball (@AdelphiBaseball) May 11, 2022
Trailing 2-0 in the eighth inning and 4-2 in the ninth inning, Adelphi was facing the very real possibility of having their outstanding regular season minimized with a playoff loss at home against the College of St. Rose in a game in which their ace started.
Fortunately for the Panthers, their squad was not about to let that happen.
Mike Draskin (.405 AVG/1.267 OPS) came through with the clutch two-run single to score Matt Alifano and Jack Ryan to tie up the game in the bottom of the eighth inning.
St. Rose answered right back with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth when LHP Steven Murphy hit the leadoff batter and walked the next. Freshman RHP John Rizzo came on in relief and St. Rose sacrificed the runner’s into scoring position, which was immediately followed with a sac fly and an RBI single to make it a 4-2 game.
Once again with their backs firmly against the wall, Adelphi responded as they have all season.
Anthony Cipri and Jack Wishner drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Cooper Johnson bunted the runners into scoring position and a wild pitch scored a runner and advanced Wishner to third. Pinch hitter Jose Matos tied the game up with an RBI single to left field to make it a 4-4 ballgame.
Rizzo went back out for the 10th and fired a scoreless inning but the Panthers went down quietly in the 10th as well. Pat-Med grad Randall Alejo, who started and beat the Panthers on Saturday came on in relief with two outs to fan Alec Maag.
In the 11th, Rizzo was even better, firing a 1-2-3 inning to get his offense back in the dugout. And in the home half, it was exactly how the Panthers drew it up. Anthony Cipri got things going with a leadoff single, he was bunted into scoring position and scored on a walk-off single by Cooper Johnson to walk it off and propel the Panthers to the comeback victory.
They avoided the dreaded one-and-done postseason scenario and they now will advance to the double-elimination tournament. They will open up on Thursday against No.3 Assumption in Worcester, MA at 10am – they last played on April 23 with the Panthers winning 7-4.
