ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Eastern Baseball split with visiting Manhattanville on Saturday afternoon dropping the first game 8-2 but taking game two by the final of 7-3.
Timmy Gorton became the first player in Eastern baseball history to reach 100 career hits before his junior year.
Josh Freed picked up his second win of the season in game two of the doubleheader. The junior right-hander struck our six hitters. He allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings.
Eastern (16-21-3, 9-12 MAC Freedom) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Andrew Boykin drove in
Joe Grato with a bases-loaded walk.
The Valiants (24-14, 13-8 MAC Freedom) responded with three runs in the top of the second, but the Eagles came right back to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning.
Tommy Strazza started the Eastern rally when he coaxed a ten-pitch walk. He stole second, and then after
Jordan Laboy popped out, stole third and came home when the catcher's throw bounced away.
Andrew Check walked, stole second and then scored on another error.
The Eagles plated two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Shane Albertson drove in Gorton, who had reached base on a single to leadoff the inning, to break the tie. Check walked later in the inning to plate Boykin and stretch the lead to 5-3.
Angelo Kelly led off the sixth inning with a double and scored a batter later when Gorton hit a double down the right field line. Boykin then doubled the very next at-bat to score Gorton and made the score final at 7-3.
Korey McCormack came on in the bottom of the seventh to get the final three outs of the game. The senior right-hander allowed one hit in his final appearance in an Eastern uniform.
The Eastern offense struggled in the first game of the day. After falling behind in the top of the first 3-0, the Eagles plated one run in the bottom half of the inning when Gorton reached base safely on an error to score Kelly.
Manhattanville tacked on five runs over the next five innings to stretch its lead 8-1. Kelly knocked in the final Eastern run of game one with an RBI-single in the seventh to knock in
Kyle Daddario.
Kelly finished the day with five hits in eight at-bats and a pair of runs. With the five hits, Kelly finished the season with 66 hits. That number is a new single-season program record. Dan Garcia's 57 hits in 2010 was the previous standard. Kelly also tied André Butler's single-season mark with 44 runs. Gorton ended the day 3-for-6 with two runs and an RBI.
Today marked the final day of the regular season and last games Eastern four seniors would play at The Yard in an Eastern uniform. Grato finished the season with a .418 batting average, which is fifth on the all-time list. His 25 extra-base and 1.230 OPS hits were best on the team. Check had his best offensive season in an Eastern Uniform. The senior centerfielder hit .362 with an OPS of over 1.000. When he threw out a runner at the plate in game one, he picked up his eighth outfield assist of the season. In addition to his work as a postion player, Check made nine appearances out of the bullpen as well.
Jordan Miller started game one for his 37th career appearance. Miller played all nine postions in a game eralier this year. McCormack battled back from arm injuries to finish the season on the mound for the Eagles.
As a class, they played a critical role in elevating the expectations for Eastern Baseball. The Eastern coaching staff looks forward to seeing the great things these four young men will do.
