Winning 9️⃣ to 5️⃣ over the reigning ECC champs…
What a way to make a living.
RECAP 📎: https://t.co/cYUbCLgq3z#PawsUp🐾 pic.twitter.com/hIJObCQiDK
— Adelphi Baseball (@AdelphiBaseball) March 12, 2024
On a beautiful afternoon in Garden City, the Adelphi Panthers came out swinging the bats against the reigning ECC Champs, Queens Knights. The Panthers used a six-run second inning to power past the Knights, who mounted a rally in the late innings to make things interesting, but Adelphi held on for a 9-5 win.
Evan Christopher and Stevie Proko was the pitching matchup and the hurlers exchanged scoreless first innings before the Panthers’ bats woke up in the second inning. They put up a six-spot which effectively put the game out of reach.
Alec Maag started things off with a single and he advanced to second on a single by Jose Matos. Joe Pellegrino, who had three hits on the afternoon, ripped a two-run triple to left field to put the Panthers up 2-0. James Eden followed with an RBI double to make it 3-0, and Erick Duignan hit a single to advance him to third. Anthony Rigogliosi stepped to the plate and the lefty crushed a three-run shot to right field to make it 6-0. After Jack Wishner singled, the inning came to a close on a 6-4-3 DP.
It was a bullpen day for the Panthers, and they turned to John Carver for the second and third innings. The hard-throwing Lynbrook native fired a 1-2-3 second inning and he was awarded the win.
Jordan Sanabria came in for Queens, and he worked around a two-out single to Jose Matos to throw a scoreless inning.
Gavin Graff was next up for the Panthers, he allowed a run in the third inning on an RBI double by Robert Jacobsen that scored Nick Barreiros to make it 6-1. He fired a scoreless fourth inning to hold the fort at 6-1.
Queens got the first two runners on in the fourth inning, but a double play and a strikeout quickly thwarted that rally.
In the home half of the fourth, the Panthers added two more runs. As is often the case, it began with a leadoff walk drawn by James Eden and that was followed with a hit by pitch of Erick Duignan. After a sac bunt by Anthony Rigogliosi, Albert Ramos hit an RBI double down the right field line. Alec Maag drew a two-out walk, but Phil D’Aguanno was retired to end the threat.
Josh Dannenberg came on and fired a 1-2-3 fifth inning to get the Panthers back in the dugout, but they went down quietly as well.
In the top of the sixth, the Panthers brought in lefty Bobby Molinaro Jr. He immediately ran into some trouble after allowing a single and a walk to the first two batters. He notched a strikeout of Matt Filip, but walked the next batter to load the bases. Jaden Rivera drove in two with a single through the left side to make it 8-3 and keep the line moving. The Panthers went to the ‘pen and called on Zach Rovner who induced an inning ending 5-3 double play to end the jam.
The Knights went back to work in the seventh inning. Barreiros got things started with a leadoff single and he advanced to second on a walk to Jacobsen. Jorsixt Jimenez, who had a monster freshman season for the Knights in 2023, drove in a run with an RBI double to left to make it 8-4. With the situation getting dicey, the Panthers called on relief ace Coleton Reitan who stranded the runners with a groundout to short. It was a big moment in the game as the potential tying run was on deck.
Adelphi got one back in the bottom of the seventh when Phil D’Aguanno doubled, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch. Joe Pellegrino singled but the inning ended on a lineout to left off the bat of James Eden.
With their backs against the wall, Queens was able to inch closer on a two-out RBI single by Jimenez, but the final out was recorded by a strikeout to strand Jimenez on base.
With the win, Adelphi evened their record to 6-6 while the Knights fell to 6-5.
