SANFORD, FL – Senior Connor Levchuck (Greenlawn, NY) went 2-for-4 with one triple, but the Vassar baseball team was unable to reach home plate, falling 3-0 to Wells on Tuesday afternoon at Sanford Stadium. Vassar suffers their second straight loss and slip to 4-2 overall. Meanwhile, Wells moves to 3-3.
At the top of the first, Ezra Caspi (Holmdel, NJ) reached first base on a passed ball. With senior Matt Martino (Hauppauge, NY) batting next, Caspi stole second and then took third. The Express shut down any scoring opportunity, though, striking out Martino and Adam Talwalkar (Lexington, KY).
Wells experienced a quick three outs in their turn to bat. At the top of the second, Levchuck tripled with a line drive up the middle to set up a scoring oppurtunity. Vassar had another chance in the fourth when first-year Nick Greenhawt (Heber City, UT) and Levchuck both singled to place on first and second base. Wells' pitcher Zach Kemp kept his composure, striking out the next batter to close the frame.
The Express scored first in the bottom of the fourth. Tanner Dunke doubled, and then A.J. Nesci walked. Wells' Dylan Nolan singled to bring in Dunke for the score. A sacrifice bunt from Mark Yorkey advanced Nolan to second, and Nesci to third, but the following express batter flew out to first baseman Greenhawt. Freshman pitcher Bryce Grathwohl (Cutchogue, NY) ended the growing threat, striking out Will Walsh to move into the fifth.
A scoreless Brewers inning followed, and then the Express tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Daniel Santi reached home after a Vassar error. The next Wells' batter grounded out, but the Express now had players on second and third. An Express double allowed one more runner to score, making it 3-0.
Vassar attempted to comeback in the seventh when senior Daniel Bonfiglio (New York, NY) singled, and Gunnar Widercrantz (Selden, NY) was walked. With one out already, the Express used a double play to shut the Brewers down.
Wells was kept scoreless in the eighth, and Vassar had one final chance in the top of the ninth. Wells' Derek Shea pitched strong, with all three Brewer batters striking out swinging in the last inning.
Grathwohl (0-1) pitched 4.0 innings while striking out one batter. Logan Willans (Ambler, PA) pitched 3.1 innings with one strikeout. For Wells, Zach Kemp pitched 7.0 innings. He struck out 13 batters on the day. Shea recorded the save with 2.0 innings pitched and four strikeouts.
Vassar takes two days off and plays Cazenovia on Thurs. Mar. 12 at 4:45 p.m. at Lake Myrtle Complex in Auburndale, FL.
