STONEHILL BASEBALL
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
AIC Park, Springfield, Mass.
FINAL: AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL 8, STONEHILL 5
123 456 789 R H E
Stonehill (8-14, 2-8 Northeast-10) 000 000 203 - 5 10 3
American Intl. (5-9, 1-6 Northeast-10) 230 120 00x - 8 12 5
BATTERIES
STO: Joe Goodwin, Mat Lindenmayer (3), Joe SantaBarbara (6) and Matt Orr
AIC: Uchon Yi, Dan Nugent (7), Zach Leon (9), Billy Thompson (9), Mike Lavato (9)
and Jeff Rustico, Matt Rhodes (8)
WP: Yi (1-2) LP: Goodwin (1-2) Save: Lavato (1)
Home Run: STO – Max Vigliotti (3)
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-- Junior Jeff Rustico (Plantsville, Conn.) and freshman Kyle Paton (Westfield, Mass.) combined to drive in five runs as American International held off a late inning rally to post an 8-5 Northeast-10 Conference baseball victory over Stonehill Tuesday afternoon at AIC Park.
The host Yellow Jackets (5-9, 1-6 Northeast-10) jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead on RBI singles by Rustico and junior Matt Rhodes (Charlestown, R.I.) and extended that advantage to 5-0 in the second on an RBI groundout by Paton, a suicide squeeze by senior Tyler Cooke (Brattleboro, Vt.) and Rustico's second RBI single in as many innings. A wild pitch and Paton's two-run double gave American International an 8-0 edge through five, and the visiting Skyhawks (8-14, 2-8 Northeast-10) got on the board in the seventh on a two-run homer off the bat of senior Max Vigliotti (Stamford, Conn.), his third of the season. Stonehill made things interesting in the ninth, as an RBI single by sophomore Javier Guzman (San Juan, P.R.), coupled with RBI fielder's choices off the bats of juniors Matt Orr (Amity, Conn.) and Ryan Halloran (Tyngsboro, Mass.), closed the gap to 8-5, and the Skyhawks had the tying run at first base but were unable to convert further.
Junior Jason Rustico (Plantsville, Conn.), sophomore Bryan Turney (Auburn, Mass.) and freshman Chuck March (Southington, Conn.) each had two hits as part of a 12-hit attack on the day for American International, as junior Uchon Yi (Windsor Locks, Conn.) scattered four hits and struck out three over six scoreless innings to pick up his first win of the season for the Yellow Jackets. Junior Mike Lavato (Springfield, Mass.) left the bases loaded in the ninth to record his first save as well for the hosts. Vigliotti and fellow senior Tom Aldrich (New Canaan, Conn.) each had two hits as part of a 10-hit effort in the setback for Stonehill, as freshman Joe Goodwin (Norwood, Mass.) took the loss on the mound for the Skyhawks, allowing six hits and four earned runs in two innings.
Stonehill is scheduled to travel to Smithfield, R.I. on Wednesday afternoon to take on Bryant in a Northeast-10 outing at 3:30 p.m. before host American International in a league contest on Thursday afternoon at Gorman Field that also begins at 3:30 p.m.