Mike Merolle
Saturday College Recap (5/4) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Mike Merolle On Saturday, a walk-off brings St. John’s a conference win closer to a Big East tournament appearance. Division-II and Division-III featured a few doubleheaders as the regular season nears the end. Division-I St. John’s vs. Creighton (DH) Game 1: St. John’s 3 — Creighton 2 The Red Storm clutched the game-one victory in their doubleheader against Creighton in walk-off fashion thanks to Ben Beauchamp’s solo home run in the 10th inning. The pitchers controlled the early game. St. John’s Evan Chaffee struck out his first four batters faced. Chaffee finished with eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. St. John’s got the game’s first run with Garrett Scavelli hitting an RBI fielder’s choice in the sixth making it 1-0. Creighton quickly surged with a two-run homer to make ...
Saturday College Recap (4/27) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Mike Merolle A 10-run comeback win, a senior day, and multiple doubleheaders made for an eventful college baseball Saturday. Here’s how it went down. Division-I: St. John’s 9 — Xavier 3 The Red Storm played their second game of the series against Xavier and prevailed, 9-3. Matt McCormick put Xavier up 1-0 in the first with an RBI single and that was the only run scored in the game until the fourth inning. The Johnnies took the lead with two unearned runs off a throwing error by the Xavier infield. In the sixth, Xavier’s Connor Misch hit a solo shot to tie it but St. John’s rallied in the seventh. Errors and wild pitches allowed Garrett Scavelli, Chad Falcon, and Anthony Brienza to score three making it 5-2. Jimmy Keenan tacked on a run on an RBI double and Marty Higgins followed wit...
GAME RECAP: Plainedge Defeats Mepham 8-3 On Senior Night
by Mike Merolle B1: Jayden Loccisano makes it 3-0 on an RBI double. Plainedge grounded in a run as well to make it 4-0 in the first inning. pic.twitter.com/NlBs3SkmDQ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 26, 2024 The Plainedge Red Devils arrived at their home field on Friday for another game on their schedule but this one had a special meaning. It was senior night which is an annual tradition where the senior players are honored before and after the game. “It’s a great night for our seniors to come together for the last senior night of their career. Let’s have a good time, have some fun,” said Santino Battista, Plainedge’s senior arm. The Mepham Pirates rolled in hopes of capturing another win in the win column but were unsuccessful as Plainedge won 8-4. Battista was on his game...
Saturday College Recap (4/20) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Mike Merolle As the season nears the end of April, loads of action happened on Saturday. A few Division-I teams saw themselves digging out of an early deficit, Division-II and Division-III saw many doubleheaders, and a walk-off home run earned a team a victory. Division-I St. John’s 8 — Butler 7 The Johnnies made a comeback in Saturday’s matchup against Butler at Jack Kaiser Stadium. Butler got the early 4-0 lead after getting six hits in the first inning. St. John’s got going in the bottom of the fourth. Marty Higgins hit a single and stole second to put him in scorer’s position. Chad Falcon drove him home with a single and Garrett Scavelli laid a bunt allowing Falcon to score making it 4-2 Butler. A Butler error in the bottom of the seventh allowed a St. John’s run to cut the def...
Saturday College Recap (4/13) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Mike Merolle Saturday was full of action through a few doubleheaders and loads of scoring. More below on how the local teams did in the Saturday roundabout. Division-I St. Johns 15 — UConn 7 The St. John’s Red Storm have their first win in Storrs, CT since 2013. They defeated the UConn Huskies 15-7 in a Saturday matchup. Garrett Scavelli got the Johnnies on the board in the second inning with his solo home run to make it 1-0. However, UConn answered with four runs thanks to Korey Morton’s solo shot, Matt Malcolm’s two-run homer, and an RBI groundout. Luke Orbon hit a three-run shot to tie the game at four in the third. Blake Mayberry added with a two-run double to make it 5-4 St. John’s. Following him, Jimmy Keenan blasted a ball over the right-centerfield fence to add to the Johnn...
Calhoun’s Clutch Hitting Blasts Them Past Garden City
by Mike Merolle The @GCsports player of the game was Calhoun’s Joe Belbol. He spoke to Axcess Baseball after defeating Garden City 11-3 pic.twitter.com/CTVyLs3SM0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 11, 2024 The Calhoun Colts did not let rainy conditions affect their game on Thursday as they defeated Garden City 11-3. The Calhoun bats made the difference in this one but the early game had solid pitching by both sides. Josh Cohen was on the mound for Garden City and his first inning went as any pitcher would dream. A strikeout and two quick outs assisted by the defense. The outing began to go south in the third as the Colts started putting runners on base. For Calhoun, Ryan Morash pitched the entire game and was efficient. Morash allowed early scoring but shut the door quickly a f...
Saturday College Recap (4/6) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Mike Merolle Opening week for the MLB has started but college baseball has been rolling a month into the season. Nearly all local teams had a successful Saturday adding to their win columns. Division-I: St. John’s 11 — Villanova 0 In a Big East matchup, the St. John’s Red Storm shutout Villanova in an 11-0 victory. It’s St. John’s fourth shutout of the season and they improve to 2-0 in conference play. St. John’s put pressure on the Wildcats early as they loaded the bases. Paul Orbon drove in two runs with a single up the middle. They added five runs in the fourth inning to make it 7-0 highlighted by Ben Beauchamp’s 2 RBI double and Jimmy Keenan’s RBI single. The Johnnies kept piling on with a Jackson Tucker RBI double, Luke Orbon 2 RBI single, and Paul Orbon adding another RBI thro...
GAME RECAP: Plainedge Defeats MacArthur In A Home-Opener Pitcher’s Duel
by Mike Merolle The @GCsports player of the game is Plainedge’s Matt Rosenberg. Rosenberg struck out 7 batters and allowed 0 runs helping Plainedge defeat MacArthur on Monday. pic.twitter.com/qIW69YjPji — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 1, 2024 It was a score only a pitcher could love. Plainedge defeated MacArthur, 1-0, at home in a non-league game to open the 2024 schedule. Tyler Bonsignore was on the mound for MacArthur and he was near perfect. Bonsignore had two strikeouts in both the first and second inning and three in the third. He opened the fourth inning with his eighth strikeout of the day but Plainedge’s bats retaliated. Bobby Wescott hit a solo home run to open the game’s scoring. The lefty-on-lefty blast put a dent in the scoresheet but Bonsignore closed the inning...
Saturday College Recap (3/30) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
By Mike Merolle Happy Easter! Before the holiday, let’s get caught up on a flurry of action-packed games that occurred. Division-I Hofstra 5 — Towson 1 After coming off a loss in the first game of the series against Towson, Hofstra prevailed on Saturday. Carlos Martinez had his most strikeouts in a game in his collegiate career with nine in seven innings. Hofstra got an early 1-0 lead after Steve Harrington drove in a run. Will Kennedy had a 3 RBI day including one in the third inning to make it 2-0 Pride. Towson got their only run of the game off of a home run by Elijah Dickerson. Kennedy and Santino Rosso drove in more runs to make it 5-1. Martinez’s strong performance in his 85-pitch outing helped Hofstra secure the win. Mike McKenna closed the game’s final two innings ...
Sunday College Recap (3/24) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by Mike Merolle A rainy Saturday made way for an eventful Sunday in college baseball. A 13-game winning streak was snapped, three doubleheaders took place, and a boatload of scoring in Division II and III was done on Sunday. Division-I: Hofstra 5 — Northeastern 13 In a CAA matchup, Northeastern visited Hofstra and won their 16th game of the season, 13-5. The Huskies won the series 2-1. Northeastern got going quickly as they scored five runs in the first inning. On the mound for the Pride, Henry Cade surrendered the runs to an RBI single, double, a sacrifice fly, and a wild pitch. After allowing another run in the second off the Huskies stealing home, Cade was pulled finishing the day with six earned runs on four hits allowed and three strikeouts in 1.2 innings pitched. In the third, Wi...
Saturday College Recap (3/16) Powered by Orlin & Cohen
By Mike Merolle Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Yesterday was a very busy day for the local college programs – here’s how it went down: Division I: St. John’s 10 — Rider 9 JOHNNIES HANG ON! Three runs in the ninth but a dart from Tucker to Keenan denies the final run from scoring and gives the Red Storm its ninth straight win! pic.twitter.com/hJPXu8DTM6 — St. John’s Baseball (@StJohnsBaseball) March 16, 2024 The Red Storm stay hot as their 10-9 win against Rider extends their winning streak to nine games. Their win on Saturday gives them a 2-0 lead in their three-game series. The game was tied 2-2 at one point in the third inning but St. John’s went on an offensive surge. Ben Beauchamp and Paul Orbon provided homers in the fifth. Seven of the nine batters in the lineup ...
Brentwood Aims For A Stronger 2024 Season
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. It was an underwhelming season on paper for Brentwood as they finished 2023 with a 5-12 record. However, there were positives taken away from it. Head coach Rich Gonzalez is entering his eighth year as head coach and is expecting a better year. “[Last year] we didn’t have as strong a season as we would have liked but it was a productive season in that no matter the circumstances, we finished the season with good chemistry and a good attitude,” Gonzalez told Axcess Baseball. Brentwood’s squad will be led by some key seniors and a junior. Gonzelez mentioned that his captains are seniors Rob Ortiz, Jose Mena, Jaden Rivera, and junior Kevin Fajardo. Gonzalez highlights thi...
