Baseball's Rally Falls Short at Johnson & Wales

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A trio of players recorded three hits apiece, including senior Rob Bochetti (East Meadow, N.Y.) who also drove in three runs, as the Johnson & Wales baseball team fended off a late Wentworth rally, winning 10-6 in a non-conference contest played at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Complex.

Winners of two straight, the Wildcats improve to 5-6 overall while the Leopards drop their second straight to stand at 9-5.

Johnson & Wales used a six-run second inning to take a 6-0 lead. Sophomore Ryan Cabral had an RBI single, sophomore Lou Umberto (Cranston, R.I.) drew a bases-loaded walk, and Bochetti had a three-run triple and came into score when senior Kory Ferullo (Rochester, N.H.) reached on an error.

The Leopards cut the lead in half in the top of the third inning. Senior Anthony Matera (Trumbull, Conn.) drew a one-out walk and went to third on a sophomore Christian Ferri (Bloomfield, N.J.) single. Senior Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.) singled up the middle to score Matera and classmate Jake Mailman (Tewksbury, Mass.) walked to load the bases. Sophomore Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.) hit a sacrifice fly which would score Ferri and freshman Tyler Weninger (Chandler, Ariz.) drove in Hulme with a single through the right side.

Johnson & Wales upped the lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the inning when Ferullo hit a two-run double to left, which scored Umberto and Cabral.

The game remained 8-3 in favor of the Wildcats until the seventh inning when the hosts tacked on two runs on a sophomore Carlos Sanabria (Pawtucket, R.I.) two-run double to left center.

Trailing 10-3 heading into the ninth inning, the Leopards made things interesting by scoring three times. Senior Scott Ouellette (Lewiston, Maine) had a one-out infield single and went to second on a junior Johnny Ryan (Brandt Rock, Mass.) walk. Sophomore Joe FitzGerald (Uxbridge, Mass.) drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Ferri laced a single down the right field line, scoring Ouellette and Ryan to make it 10-5. Fitzgerald would score on a balk which put Ferri in scoring position and made it a four-run game. Hulme walked placing runners at first and second, however the rally was halted when junior Nick Cesino (Scituate, R.I.) was summoned and got a game-ending strikeout.

Junior Lane Compton (Freeland, Mich.) picked up the win (3-2), going 7.2 innings and allowing three runs on five hits and striking out five. Cesino notched the save with his ninth-inning out five. Junior Andrew Hunton (Monroe, N.Y.) and sophomore Ivan Reyes (Cranston, R.I.) had three hits each.

Sophomore Paul Vergara (Needham, Mass.) was tagged with the loss (1-2) after allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and striking out three in 3.1 innings. Freshman Bram Grooten (Eindhoven, Netherlands) pitched 2.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits and four strikeouts. Juniors Corey Jerolmon (New Milford, Conn.) and Ryan Daniels (Bristol, R.I.) worked an inning each. Ferri and Weninger had two each with Ferri driving in two runs.

Wentworth is at Endicott tomorrow for a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader.