AUBURNDALE, FL – The Vassar baseball team split in Sunday's doubleheader against Endicott to move to 3-5 on the season. The Brewers took the first game 7-6 after junior Jaden Millstein (Margate, NJ) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh, with the game at 5-6. Endicott (4-1) took the second game on a walk-off double to win 2-3.
Endicott struck early in the first inning to take a 0-1 lead. Joseph Millar led off and singled down the right line, and then Caleb Shpur knocked in a double to left field that brought Millar home. Vassar pitcher Bryce Grathwohl (Cutchogue, NY) settled in afterward by striking out two Gulls' batters. He then grounded out the next batter to close the frame.
It was a quick three outs for the Brewers at the bottom of the first, and Grathwohl struck out two more Endicott players in the second. Vassar struggled to hit until the bottom of the third when they brought in four runs to take a 4-1 lead. Junior Adam Talwalkar (Lexington, KY) reached first on a single and advanced to second on a balk. Millstein knocked a single to right field to let Talwalkar score, and Millstein got home after Reid Lapekas (McKinney, TX) hit a single. Junior Andrew Kanellis (Burke, VA) launched a home run to left field for two RBIs before the inning.
A Kyle Grabowski single in the fifth gave Shpur the run and cut the Vassar lead to 4-2, but the Brewers answered with a lead-off home run by Adam Talwalkar to make it 5-2. Endicott chipped away in the sixth after being down 0-2. Jake Nardone reached on a fielding error, and two Gulls' runners went home to put the score at 5-4.
Endicott took a 5-6 lead in the top of the seventh after the Gulls scored two runs from a Matthew McKinley sacrifice fly and a Millar single.
Pitcher Max Tarlin struck out the first two Vassar batters in the bottom of the seventh and then walked Talwalkar. First-year Jack Story (Marietta, GA) came in to pinch run for Talwalkar and stole second. Ricardo Reyna hit a single to center field, and Story scored on a throwing error. A wild pitch allowed Reyna to advance to third right before Millstein hit the walk-off single to right field to give Vassar the win.
Grathwohl pitched 4.2 innings with five hits, two runs, and six strikeouts. Vassar recorded eight hits on the day, with Millstein, Talwalkar, and Lapekas each having two hits.
The Gulls tallied ten hits, with Shpur going 3-for-5. Rian Schwede went 4.1 innings with six hits, five runs, and two strikeouts.
The second game proved to be another close contest and ended in a similar fashion. Endicott scored first in the second inning when Nickolas Perkins singled to center field to give Grabowski the run. Vassar responded in the third after junior Alex Warren (Bethesda, MD) tripled to center field. He then scored on a wild pitch to tie 1-1.
The Gulls tacked on one run in the third to regain the lead, and the Brewers evened it up at the top of the fourth. Kanellis doubled to the right field, and Ty Murray (Lenexa, KS) singled to bring Kanellis home. Neither side would score the next five innings until the bottom of the ninth. Endicott's Notarangelo doubled to center field, and then a sacrifice bunt brought him to third. McKinley lined out to the third base, but a Millar double led to the walk-off run to give the Gulls a 2-3 victory.
Senior Dawson Dullnig (San Antonio, TX) went 5.0 innings with four hits, two runs, and ten strikeouts, while Endicott's Jordan Gottesman pitched 5.0 innings with five hits, two runs, and five strikeouts.
Vassar plays SUNY Canton at 9:15 a.m. on Mar. 14 to wrap up their spring break trip.
