MCC’s Run Ends in Junior College World Series

TYLER, TX (May 18,2008) MCC’s baseball season came to an end Sunday after losing both its weekend games at the NJCAA Division III World Series which was played at Mike Carter Field in Tyler, Texas.

Richland College (Dallas, Texas) beat the Cougars on Saturday afternoon 10-5, and then Hudson Valley Community College (Troy, NY) sent the Cougars home from the double elimination tournament with a 13-4 defeat Sunday afternoon.

MCC hit .313 in the two games, but left 21 runners on base – 10 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday in seven innings. Hudson Valley had an eight-run lead with seven innings played and the mercy rule was applied.

“We left 11 guys on in the first four innings,” Manchester Head Coach Chris Strahowski said after his ninth, and by far, most successful campaign came to an end in the Lone Star State. “We were two or three hits away from being up six or seven runs.”

Derek Grundmann was 4 for 7 in the series with a home run and five RBI. The DH/Catcher from Colchester hit a two-run shot Saturday afternoon in the seventh in to cut Richmond’s lead to 4-3, then put MCC back in the game on Sunday with a three-run triple in the fifth inning, bringing the Cougars to within two runs of Hudson Valley.

“It’s not that it was too late, Derek’s triple was obviously helpful, but had we had a hit or two early on, that could have been the deciding blow to seal the game instead of trying to get us ourselves back into it.” Strahowski said.

Kevin Clements of Vernon was 4 for 8 over the two games, including a two-run double on Saturday and was hit by pitches in each game. Pedro Acevedo (New Britain) was 3 for 5 with four walks.

“We had that tough time when we put up a crooked number and all we need to do was get a zero to stop the momentum, but we couldn’t do it both games and that is what pretty much sealed out fate,” Strahowski said. MCC’s team ERA over the two games was 13.19 with 11 walks and 10 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings.

The early exit wasn’t going to diminish the experience for Strahowski or the 24 players representing MCC. “All the teams here are fantastic, and based on the performance in games I saw other than ours, we definitely belong here. We are definitely a good team and so are the teams here,” Strahowski said.

The Series host, defending NJCAA D-3 Champion Tyler Junior College, did not participate in the tournament after being eliminated by Richland in the Region 3 Tournament on Sunday May 11. That however, didn’t stop the college or city from running a first rate tournament.

“The tournament was run first class, the facilities are gorgeous, the way did everything was done was fantastic,” Strahowski concluded.

MCC finished the season with a 29-13-2 record.