SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Head Baseball Coach
Nick Callini broke a tie with AIC Hall of Famer Gary Wright for second-most wins as a head coach in the history of American International College athletics as the Yellow Jackets split the first two of a four-game Northeast 10 Conference series with Franklin Pierce University, losing 7-6 and winning 4-1 on Friday, May 1.
AIC is now 15-31 on the season with an 11-23 conference record.
The first inning was messy for both teams, as errors helped runs accumulate quickly. The Ravens scored three times, all with two outs, after an error extended their half-inning, but the Yellow Jackets countered with singles by AJ Quinn and
Leandro Guevara, and a throwing error moved Quinn to third. Frometa drove Quinn home with a hit, and then after
Cole Patterson walked and the on-base duo stole an extra 90 feet,
Sam Tanous doubled over the third base bag to bring them home and tie the game.
The Ravens packed the bags in the third, but
Traigh Skiffington came in and cleaned up, grabbing a strikeout and a bouncer back to the mound to shut the threat down.Â
In the fifth, AIC took the lead on another Raven miscue;
Yeudy Ramirez reached on a throwing error, then stole second and ultimately came home on a Guevara single.Â
Patterson led off the sixth inning with a single just out of the reach of the second baseman, collecting his 100th career hit in doing so. He swiped second, and then scored on a
Nate Suncar single to right field.
In the seventh, the Ravens leadoff hitter struck out but reached base on a passed ball, and scored on the next pitch, which was hit to the base of the center field wall for a double. From there, a single, sacrifice fly, and error brought home two more runs to give the Ravens a 6-5 edge. They added another run in the eighth with a single and a double.Â
In the eighth,
Josh Frometa led off with a 1-0 double to left, and Patterson immediately followed with an RBI single to right. However, AIC was not able to tie the game as the Ravens held on for the win.
The Ravens scored first in game two, pushing a run across with a walk, stolen base, and single, but AIC countered in the third as
Aidan Streeter led off with a four-pitch walk. Two wild pitches, bookending a groundout, allowed Streeter to come around and score.
Streeter then delivered in the fourth, as Tanous walked and
Anthony Javier was hit by a pitch. He drove a 2-2 offering to right for a triple, putting AIC ahead 3-1.
Richie Segura closed out the scoring with a bang in the sixth, launching the first pitch of the inning beyond the fences of Bedard Field for a 4-1 lead.
Brandon Morrison came in in the seventh and slammed the door, drawing three groundouts for the save.
That win gave Callini his 313th since becoming head coach in 2004, breaking a tie with the longtime ice hockey bench boss Wright, who was inducted into AIC's Hall of Fame in 2022 following a 32-year career leading the program from 1984-2016. No coach of any men's sport at AIC has more wins than Callini; the overall wins record is held by longtime softball and volleyball coach Judy Groff, a four-time AIC Hall of Famer who has 1246 wins between the two sports from 1969-2011.Â
The teams will play two more games on Saturday, May 2 beginning at noon; between the doubleheader, AIC will celebrate its graduating class with the team's annual Senior Day ceremony.
