MCC Baseball Weekend Wrap-Up:

Quagliaroli Does It With His Arm (Saturday) And Bat (Sunday)
MCC Baseball Team Takes Three Out Of Four; Now 20-6-2

MANCHESTER, CT – (Sunday, April 20, 2008) Former Windsor Locks standout Mike Quagliaroli pitched a three-hit shutout on Saturday against Massasoit CC, then went 3 for 4 with a home run, four runs scored, two stolen bases and four RBI’s, including the game winner in extra innings on Sunday as MCC swept Ulster (NY) County.

Manchester (20-6-2) split a pair of Region XXI , Division III games against Massasoit on Saturday at Mc Cormick Complex, winning game one 3-0, then falling 3-1 in the nightcap. On Sunday, MCC got a complete game effort from Steve Simon (Middlefield) in a 3-1 win over Ulster County, then took the second game 11-10 when Quagliaroli singled home Kevin Garrison (Berlin) with one out in the eighth inning.

Bolton’s Peter Burgio homered in both games on Sunday while Derek Grundmann (Colchester) homered in game one Saturday and tripled twice in game two Sunday.

Quagliaroli, who was in San Antonio Texas a year ago at US Air National Guard basic training, is 4-0 with a 0.80 ERA in 22 2/3 innings with 18 strikeouts and three walks. Three years removed from his second All-State season at Windsor Locks High, Quagliaroli is currently a member Air national Guard Reserves.

“He’s a little bit older, he took a year and a half off after going to Eastern for a little bit,” ninth year MCC Head Coach Chris Strahowski said of the emerging two-way player. “We originally recruited him in ’05, so it’s nice that he finally got here and now he is showing why we originally wanted him two years ago.”

Strahowski considers the 21-year old a leader on the team, but Quagliaroli is quick to downplay the role, deferring to the sophomores who have helped lead the Cougars to a 20-6-2 overall record and 9-3 mark within Division III Region XXI.

“I look to these guys for leadership,” Quagliaroli said, pointing in the general direction of his teammates. “I’m just trying to get in the swing of things after not playing as long as I did. I’ve been working on my mechanics with (pitching coach) Shawn (Barry) and Straw (Strahowski).”

“We’ve been cautious with him pitch count-wise, inning-wise just so we don’t burn him out,” Strahowski said. “We know he’s going to be a guy that plays some defense for us, but we wanted to hold him back a little defensively to build up his arm strength.”

With his two-run homer in the fifth inning of game two Sunday, Quagliaroli took over the team lead in that category with three and has 16 RBI and a .313 batting average. But his biggest play of the weekend, and perhaps the season, came with the tying run on third base and nobody out in the fifth inning Saturday.

Massasoit’s Marc Doyle dropped a perfect suicide squeeze bunt between the mound and third base with Dan Coury charging toward the plate. Quagliaroli slid to the ball and flipped it to catcher James McGowan (South Windsor), who was promptly bowled over, but held on to the ball.

“Give McGowan credit for hanging on,” Quagliaroli said about the thunderous hit his catcher absorbed for the team.

“I caught the ball with my bare hand and brought it to my glove,” McGowan said. “If we didn’t make that play, it’s a tie ball game.” Quagliaroli retired seven of the next nine batters to complete the shutout.

On Sunday, Simon pitched his second seven-inning, complete game of the week, striking out five in the 3-1 victory over Ulster County. Simon (2-2), who lost a 3-1 game to Westchester (NY) CC on Wednesday, walked the first batter he faced, but did not issue another. The right-hander did not allow a hit over the first three innings and gave up just three on the afternoon.

In game two Sunday, MCC was sitting on a 9-3 lead in going into the top of the seventh inning, but Ulster scored seven times to take a 10-9 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, McGowan came up as a pinch hitter and dropped the first pitch into right field for a single, driving in Quagliaroli, who had walked to lead off the inning, with the tying run.

Winning pitcher Rob Bukowski Wallingford) got the final out of the seventh and retired the side in order in the eighth in just his second appearance of the season. In the bottom of the eighth, Quagliaroli’s third hit of the game plated Garrison with the winning run.

Sunday Game 1
Manchester Community College 4 Ulster County (NY) CC 1

at Manchester, CT

Ulster County CC 000 100 0 – 1 3 1
Manchester CC 201 100 x 4 8 2

M: Steve Simon and James McGowan U: Travis Mills and Jimmy Ferraro
WP: Simon LP: Mills HR: M – Peter Burgio Records: UC: 20-15, MCC: 19-6-2,

Sunday Game 2
Manchester Community College 11 Ulster County (NY) CC 10 (8 innings)

at Manchester, CT

Ulster County CC 020 010 70 – 10 11 3
Manchester CC 020 160 11 – 11 14 2

M: Andrew Hebebrand, Steve Aloisa (4), Rob Brown (6), Ken Martinik (7), Rob Bukowski (7) and Derek Grundmann U: Blaze Zeilman, Brennan Debrosky (5), Tom Redmond (5) and K.C. Craig
WP: Rob Bukowski LP: Tom Redmond HR: M – Peter Burgio, Mike Quagliaroli, U – Eddie Luft Records: UC: 20-16 MCC: 20-6-2

Saturday Game 1
Manchester Community College 3 Massasoit CC 0

at Manchester, CT

Massasoit CC 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Manchester CC 010 011 X – 3 5 1
MA: Cory Collins and Dan Coury MC: Mike Quagliaroli and James McGowan.
WP: Quagliaroli LP: Collins HR: M – Derek Grundmann. Records: MA: 20-6, MC: 18-5-2

Saturday Game 2
Massasoit CC 3 Manchester Community College 1
at Manchester, CT

Massasoit CC 100 011 0 – 3 6 2
Manchester CC 001 000 0 – 1 5 3

MA: Bob Fredrickson, Andrew Foster (6) and Dan Coury MC: Dan Nelson, Kevin Garrison (6) and Derek Grundmann WP: Fredrickson LP: Nelson SV: Foster Records: MA: 21-6, MC: 18-6-2