MCC Baseball Weekend Update
MCC Sweeps Bunker Hill with a Pair of 8-0 Shutouts
Cougars Win Four of Five Weekend Division Games; Remain in First Place
MANCHESTER – Joey Allison (East Hartford) was 7 for 8 with five runs scored as Manchester CC (21-15, 8-1) swept a doubleheader from Bunker Hill CC (8-13, 2-5) by identical 8-0 scores.
Kevin Wodatch (Wallingford) pitched six shutout innings with five strikeouts and no walks in the first game, while Luis Sanchez (New London) shut out Bunker Hill on over the first five innings of the second game on one hit.
A. J. Lowers (Newington) drove in five runs on the afternoon with three hits, including a bases loaded triple to give MCC a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one. Juan Bisono (New Britain) was 3 for 7 with a pair of doubles. Allison had a triple and two stolen bases.
“Lowers has been doing it all year and it’s going to continue,” MCC head coach Chris Strahowski said. “You keep putting guys on base for him and it’s going to happen. Same thing with Juan, who is hitting the ball well. And I think Joey had six (seven) hits today.”
Tyler Kapushinski (New Britain), A. J. Rataic (East Hartford) and Mike Methot (Bristol) each pitched scoreless frames in the double shutout effort.
MCC won four of five Region 21 division games over the weekend and remain in first place with an 8-1 record. The Cougars host UConn-Avery Point Tuesday at 3 PM in a make-up game.
“We’ll take it,” Strahowski said of his team’s weekend work. “It puts us in a pretty good position with the rest of the conference. With four games left, we should be in pretty good shape.”
On Saturday, MCC split a pair of 4-3 decisions with Massasoit CC in Manchester. Bisono hit a two-run, walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh to give Manchester CC a 4-3 victory and a doubleheader split in the second game against division rival Massasoit CC (15-7, 4-3).
The Cougars have been logging games at a blistering pace – 36 over 47 days and Strahowski feels his team is reaching its potential.
“I didn’t think it was going to take 36 games, but it finally seems like we kind of turning the corner,” Strahowski added.”
Bisono had a hand in all four Cougar runs with three RBI and a run scored. MCC starter Adam Scanlon (South Windsor) pitched a complete game, using 80 pitches and improved to 4-2 on the season. Scanlon scattered six hits without walking a batter, struck out four and retired the last nine batters he faced.
In the first game, Massasoit overcame a 3-0 deficit with four runs in the top of the sixth to beat MCC 4-3.
Friday afternoon in Holyoke, Kevin Madera (Newington) improved to 6-0 at MCC beat Holyoke CC 14-2 in eight innings (Mercy Rule). Madera struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing two unearned runs. Kevin Wallace (Groton), Taylor Riley (Simsbury) and Bisono homered. Alec Brown (Montville) was 4 for 5 and Lowers was 3 for 3. Riley was 2 for 3 with four RBI.
