Baseball Upsets Endicott in CCC Tourney Opener

BEVERLY, Mass. – Senior Alex Wong (Lewiston, Maine) threw a complete game, while junior Jon Spitz (Hanover, Mass.) and sophomore Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.) had a pair of hits apiece as the fifth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team upset second-seeded Endicott, 5-1, in the opening round of the 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament.

With the win the Leopards improve to 16-15 and will travel to third-seeded Salve Regina for a second round game on Friday. The Seahawks defeated Roger Williams, 11-5. The Gulls see their nine-game win streak come to an end, falling to 28-12 on the year. Endicott looks to stave off elimination on Friday when it hosts sixth-seeded Curry, which was defeated, 11-0, by top seeded Western New England.

The Leopards grabbed the lead in the top of the third when Spitz doubled down the left field line and Wong scored him with a triple to right field. Wong would double the visitor's lead in the next at-bat as he and Hulme executed a suicide squeeze, with Hulme getting a bunt down as Wong broke for home plate.

Endicott cut the lead in half in the sixth as Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch. Oringer had delivered a one-out single up the middle, then advanced to third on a two-out double down the left field line by left fielder Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.).

The Leopards added three runs in the eighth inning as senior Ryan Delgado (Wareham, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and was replaced by junior Paul Dassau (Franklin, Mass.) with a fielder's choice. Spitz hit an infield single to third base, before Hulme hit a line drive that Oringer almost made a leaping catch on, but it ended up in left field to score two runs. Hulme then came around to score from first on a single to left center by sophomore Jake Mailman (Medway, Mass.).

In the Endicott eighth, the Gulls threatened with runners at first and second with two outs, but Wong induced a groundout to end the threat and set the hosts down in order in the ninth, retiring the last two batters on strikeouts.

Wong improved to 3-0 on the year, allowing one run on six hits and striking out four batters. He helped his own cause at the plate by going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Hulme drove in three of the five Leopard runs.

The Leopards handed CCC Pitcher of the Year Tyler Hitchcock (Abington, Mass.) his first loss of the season (7-1). Hitchcock allowed five runs on six hits, walked two, and struck out four in eight innings of work. Oringer and Sitarz collected two hits apiece for the Gulls.