Mitchell baseball team stays alive in Div. III Regional
May 29—Mitchell College is spending a long day at the NCAA Division III Auburn (N.Y.) Regional on Saturday.
The Mariners would have it no other way.
In the first game of the day at 10 a.m, they stayed alive in the double elimination baseball tournament with a 4-2 victory over Merchant Marine Academy at Falcon Park.
Then they'll wait until approximately 7:45 p.m. to face SUNY Cortland in another elimination game.
Thanks to sophomore Cam Varney's complete game against Merchant Marine (17-4), the Mariners (26-8) will have a rested bullpen for the nightcap.
Varney (5-0) allowed just four hits and two unearned runs, retiring the side in order in the ninth inning. He struck out four and walked two and threw 119 pitches, 75 for strikes.
"He was awesome," coach Travis Beausoleil said Saturday afternoon. "For the most part, he commanded his fast ball and his slider was the best I've seen. And to carry us through nine to keep the bullpen all intact, it was a really, really good outing for us."
Mitchell did all its damage in the first inning, scoring four runs on five of its nine hits overall.
Robbie DelaCruz, a freshman from Montville, led off with a double and scored when New London's Lelo Martinez singled.
Then, with two outs, the Mariners loaded the bases, as Killingly's Hunter Yaworski was hit by a pitch and Anthony Laureano and Anthony Diaz both singled. John-John Jose delivered a two-run single to give his team a 3-0 lead.
Owen Robbins of East Lyme reached on an error, plating the fourth run.
"It was critical," Beausoleil said about taking an early lead. "It allowed us to relax a bit and allowed Cam to relax and then every pitch isn't life or death. It allowed the defense not to play so tight."
Varney, who came in with a team-best 2.66 earned run average, retired five of the first six batters before giving up an unearned run. He issued a one-out walk to No. 9 batter Jacob Kelly, who stole second and came around to score on a throwing error.
Mitchell's bats went quiet after the third, managing just two hits the rest of the way against starter Tyler Reistetter (2-1) who went the distance.
An error, infield single and ground-out in the seventh led to another run for Merchant Marine, which cut the gap to 4-2.
But Varney closed the door. He worked around a one-out single in the eighth and didn't allow a baserunner in the ninth.
Diaz led the Mitchell offense with three hits and Dougie DelaCruz added two.
It was Mitchell's fourth NCAA tournament win in program history in six postseason trips.
The Mariners came into the tournament with the roster missing seven players due to a variety of circumstances.
"Not only for them to scratch, claw and stay alive and to compete at this level with a bunch of starters out, but everyone on the field with the exception of Anthony Laureano, my second baseman, is coming back (next year)," Beausoleil said. "It's great for us now and shows where the program is, even being down guys the next guy is going to step up and compete but it's also great for the future for these guys to get the experience."
There's been a lot of down time for Mitchell at the Auburn Regional. The Mariners had Friday off after their game against Merchant Marine was rescheduled to Saturday due to rain. Then they had hours to kill after Saturday's win before playing again.
"Not only a long day, but logistically it's been a nightmare," Beausoleil said. "The hotel made all the teams check out. We're going to get lunch, but then there's no place to go and hang out and rest and get ready for the game."
Mitchell is checking into another hotel on Saturday afternoon before playing Cortland.
