SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – The American International College baseball team went all-in on a Northeast-10 Conference Championship Quarterfinal matchup against the University of New Haven, and a pair of aces helped win the day as the Yellow Jackets downed the Chargers 6-4 on Wednesday, May 7 to advance to the conference's double-elimination final four.
AIC improves to 20-23 on the season.
It was the Chargers that struck first, taking advantage of a leadoff walk, stolen base, and single to lead 1-0 before AIC could pick up its bats. Casey Cerruto smacked the RBI single, a rocket shot that took a high hop past first base with two outs.
In his next plate appearance, he led off the fourth, hitting a shot to center field that cleared the fence for a solo home run and a 2-0 Chargers lead.
Leandro Guevara led off the bottom half with a mirror image of the Cerruto single, with his ricocheting past the third baseman instead. He was replaced on the basepaths by Kiernan Caffrey, who was robbed of a hit by an excellent defensive play up the middle.
However, the Yellow Jackets kept swinging, and after Brendan Edvardsen singled into the right-center gap, Richie Segura ripped a line drive past the pitcher and through the middle to score Caffrey.
With men at the corners, the Yellow Jackets put the hit-and-run on and it worked; the middle infielders ranged to cover second and Sam Tanous slapped a single through the hole in the right side to score Edvardsen and tie the game.
The Chargers put two men on, but Nick Serce reached back and picked up a pair of strikeouts to end the fifth, giving him eight on the day.
"It was amazing…coaches having trust in me on the mound and at the plate, I can't be any more thankful," Serce said.
"He's been huge…we had a lot of confidence going into this game," Head Coach Nick Callini said of his starter.
In the fifth, Yeudy Ramirez singled into left center, and Josh Frometa followed with a hit through the left side. Frometa was then able to take second on a pitch that bounced on its way to the plate. That proved critical, as Guevara singled to left to drive the duo home, giving AIC a 4-2 lead.
Tim Krol, who came on in relief of Serce, allowed the Chargers to load the bases, but drew a groundout to end the threat in the sixth. AIC then added to its lead as Segura launched his first collegiate home run, a no-doubt shot just under the scoreboard in left center, to lead the inning off.
"Proud. Proud of all these guys. We put in the work day in, day out all fall and all spring. We never let our heads down and we just keep pushing together," Segura said about the game in a postgame interview.
"He's been great…[we] wanted him to come into this game knowing that we believed in him, we were confident in him…we really wanted to get Richie's bat into the lineup," Callini said.
The Chargers put runners on in the seventh, but left them there as Krol rebounded from two singles with three straight outs.
In the eighth, the luck seemed to run out. Two hits and a walk loaded the bases with no outs, and an 0-2 inside pitch hit Cam McGugan to force in a run. Joseph Frazetta then hit a flare to right that scored another. A shallow foul flyout gave AIC hope, however, and Krol was able to end it by getting Cerruto to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to strand the tying run.
AIC got one run back in the home half as Edvardsen walked and swiped second. Two hitters later, Cole Patterson dropped a single into left, taking second on the throw home that Edvardsen beat.
Krol came back on for the ninth and slammed the door, allowing a two-out double but getting Mike Christian to chase a high fastball for strike three and out three.
"It's TK. I have full faith in that kid. He's a baller…you wouldn't want anyone else behind you in that moment," Serce said about Krol.
Serce allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in the win to improve to 4-1, while Krol allowed two runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts for his first save on the season.
"It feels amazing. We've been working a whole lot of years to try to build this program to this point and to finally get that success that we've been pecking at feels awesome. I'm super happy for the guys," Callini said.
AIC now awaits the results of the other three first round games to see who will play at Bedard Field in the next round of the Tournament on Friday, May 9.
