The second seeded Genesee Community College Men’s Baseball team came back after trailing 3-0 to win the Western New York Athletic Conference Championship, 7-3 over the number one seed Mercyhurst North East on Saturday evening at Dwyer Stadium.
Cougars starting pitcher Dan Sharpe (Youngstown, NY) allowed two runs in the first inning after giving up two hits and walking two. He allowed another run on two hits in the second inning before settling down.
Trailing 3-0 in the home half of the second inning, the Cougars responded by scoring two runs on RBI singles from Brandon Collins (Toronto, Canada) and Bryan Depew (Wellsville, NY). Zach Ranta (Stoney Creek, Ontario) tied the game at 3 in the very next inning when he scored on an errant throw after a base hit from Brian Nieves.
With a tie score, Sharpe settled in and did not allow a single hit after the second inning. He finished the game throwing 8 and 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, struck out 5 and earned the win.
(Fauchedre Celestijn celebrates after hitting a three-run homerun in WNYAC Championship game)
GCC took the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh inning with an RBI single from Ramon Vega (San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico) that scored Ranta to give the Cougars a 4-3 advantage. Fauchedre Celestijn (Willemstad, Curacao) followed with a three-run homerun to give Genesee a 7-3 lead, a lead they would hold on to for the win.
(The GCC fall championship baseball team)
The Cougars finish the fall season with 13 wins and 2 losses in conference play and earn their first fall title since 2009.
In the WNYAC semi finals, the GCC Men’s Baseball team defeated Erie Community College 5-1 to advance to the championship game.
Cougars starter Adam Pratt (Batavia, NY) threw 8 and 1/3 innings, allowing a run on 5 hits, struck out 7 and walked 3.
(Batavia High School graduate Adam Pratt pitches GCC into the WNYAC Championship game with a 5-1 win over Erie Community College)
GCC jumped out to an early lead when Tyler Koronas (Naples, FL) delivered an RBI singled that scored the lead off hitter Shakeel Newton (Christiansted, Virgin Islands) who reached on an error in the bottom of the first. Koronas would later scored on an RBI ground out by Brian Nieves (San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico) to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
The Cougars added a run in the 3rd, 5th and 7th innings and finished with 11 hits in the game. Fauchedre Celestijn went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s and Koronas finished the game going 2-4 with a run batted in and a run scored.
