Knights Baseball Cut Down by Cyclones in Florida
03.17.20
David Meech
Warwick, R.I. – March 17, 2020: The CCRI Knights baseball team got underway with their 2020 campaign Thursday, March 5th down in Auburndale, Florida. The Knights took on the St. Cloud Tech Community College Cyclones for a morning doubleheader. The Cyclones exhibited dominant hitting through both games, winning game one 6-1 and game two 20-2. The losses start CCRI’s season record at 0-2 overall.
Game One: CCRI-1 St. Cloud Tech-6 (7 innings)
To kick off the 2020 season, the Knights sent sophomore co-captain Ben Sears (East Providence, RI) to the mound. Sears picked up where he left off last season with dominant pitching and a great balance of off-speed pitches and straight gas. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when the St. Cloud bats awoke from their slumber and scored all six of their runs.
On the offensive side of the plate the Knights got off to a slow start. They answered the Cyclones with a run of their own in the top of the sixth when sophomore co-captain David Meech (Douglas, MA) hit a solo homerun to center field. This was all CCRI could muster and they would fall in game one 6-1.
Ben Sears threw four and one third innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs and striking out eight batters. Freshman Kyle Haberle (Smithfield, RI) pitched two thirds of an inning to get the Knights out of the fifth inning where did not allow one hit or earned run. Freshman Bellamy Gutierrez (Pawtucket, RI) threw the final inning, conceding two hits, one earned run and striking out one batter.
At the plate, CCRI was led by David Meech with his solo homerun as he went 1-3 with one RBI and a run scored. Freshman Jesus Ortega (Providence, RI) went 1-2 on his debut for the Knights with a triple. Freshman Lewis Nunez (Providence, RI) was 1-3 in game one with a double that rounded off CCRI’s offense.
Game Two: CCRI-2 St. Cloud Tech-20 (5 Innings)
The second game of the doubleheader saw more struggles at the plate for the Knights. They amassed just two hits and two runs compared to the 15 hits and 20 runs produced by the Cyclones. The game was tied 1-1 after one inning when David Meech hit and RBI double to level things up with the Cyclones. St. Cloud would score 19 runs which was only answered by a solitary run in the bottom of the fifth by CCRI when sophomore James Pederson (Westerly, RI) drove in a run with a two-out RBI single. This was too little too late and the game would end with St. Cloud winning 20-2.
The Knights threw four pitchers in game two with freshman Tyler Parks (Warwick, RI) getting the start. Parks threw two and one thirds innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs whiles striking out four batters. Sophomore John DeRouin (Cranston, RI) threw two thirds of an inning in relief, conceding five hits and six earned runs while adding one strikeout. Freshman Matthew Viveiros (North Scituate, RI) produced one and one third innings of scoreless pitching before fellow freshman Manuel Ortiz (Pawtucket, RI) threw the final two thirds of an inning allowing two hits and six earned runs.
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The Community College of Rhode Island, New England’s largest comprehensive community college, enrolls nearly 15,000 students in credit courses and thousands more in non-credit and job training classes. Its athletic program boasts 10 varsity, four club programs and an academic support program for all student-athletes.