POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – In a wild Saturday doubleheader against St. Lawrence, the Vassar baseball team fell 8-9 in 11 innings in the first game. Then in the second contest, the game was tied 10-10 in the seventh inning before it was suspended due to darkness. The second game will resume at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow on Prentiss Field before the regularly scheduled game.
The Saints got rolling early, using an Andrew Circelli home run to left field to put the Saints up 0-2 in the first inning. St. Lawrence tacked on three more runs in the third inning and another in the fourth to take a 0-6 lead. In the fifth inning, the Brewers quickly used three-straight Saints' flyouts to end the inning.
Vassar picked up some momentum at the bottom of the frame when Ezra Caspi (Holmdel, NJ) led off with a single to center field. Junior Andrew Kanellis (Burke, VA) then doubled to left field, and a Bryce Gratwohl (Cutchogue, NY) walk loaded the bases. Senior Sam Brinster (Long Beach, NY) reached on a fielder's choice, and Caspi came home. A double from junior Adam Talwalkar (Lexington, KY) brought Grathwohl home to cut the lead to 2-6.
The Brewers added two more runs in the sixth when Reid Lapekas (McKinney, TX) doubled to bring Jaden Millstein (Margate, NJ) home. Lapekas scored after Ty Murray (Lenexa, KS) singled to bring the score to 4-6.
St. Lawrence tacked on another run in the seventh, but Vassar tied 7-7 after a three-run ninth inning. Junior Alex Warren (Bethesda, MD) and Millstein scored on wild pitches, and then Kanellis used a sacrifice fly to allow Lapekas to score.
Michael Goretti flew out, and Jake Delaney grounded out to start the 10th inning, but the Saints followed up with runners on first and second. Pitcher Ryan Harris (Langhorne, PA) struck out the last batter to keep it tied. It was a quick three outs for the Brewers in the bottom of the tenth, and action went to another inning.
Singles from Goretti and Delaney gave St. Lawrence two runs in the 11th inning. Millstein followed up with a home run to right field to make it 8-9, but the next two Vassar batters were taken out to secure the Saints' win.
In the second game, Vassar appeared to be in control, scoring nine runs in the third inning to take a 9-0 lead. Warren scored on a Lapekas sacrifice bunt, and a Ricardo Reyna (San Antonio, TX) single allowed Caspi to run home. Brinster doubled to tack on two RBI, and the inning was capped off with Millstein's home run to right field that brought three runs.
The Saints' scored in the fourth, but Vassar added another run to make it 10-1. After scoring two runs in the sixth, St. Lawrence slowly began to chip away at the Brewers' lead. The Saints loaded the bases in the seventh, and Nicholas Butler hit a grand slam to left field to tie 10-10. Vassar finally closed out the inning, but the game was suspended due to darkness.
The remainder of the game will resumed on Sunday and it Vassar led off with Brinster. The St. Lawernce pitcher walked Brinster and then first-year Jack Story (Marietta, GA) came in to pinch run for him. Story reached second on a wild pitch and stole third right after. A bad throw by the catched allowed Story to reach home and end the game.
