MILTON, Mass. – Fourth-seeded Wentworth outlasted top-seeded Curry, 16-14, in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Baseball Tournament action Friday afternoon in Milton. With the win, the Leopards (26-13) advance to Saturday’s semi-final round, where they will host #5 Salve Regina. The loss eliminates the Colonels, who fall to 26-13.
Wentworth used a 17-hit attack to score runs in all but the first two innings. The visitors built leads of 8-3 through 3 ½ innings and 15-10 through 7 ½ innings. Curry pulled to within one run twice at 8-7 and 11-10. But a two-run home run by sophomore Justin Bolla (Groveland, Mass.) in the top of the eighth provided the winning margin.
The hosts got a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth, cutting the lead to 15-12 after a two-run single by sophomore Brian Morante (Westwood, Mass.), and plated two more in the bottom of the ninth on a two-RBI base hit by senior Rick Vail (Lynnfield, Mass.). But senior Scott Borges (Westport, Mass.) induced a routine groundout to second off the bat of Morante to end the game.
In addition to Bolla, the Leopards got home runs from senior Pete Oggeri (Sandy Hook, Conn.) and junior Mike Diodato (Asbury, N.J.). Oggeri finished 3-for-5 with five RBI and four runs scored. Diodato was 3-for-6 with three RBI, while freshman Alex Wong (Lewiston, Maine) collected three hits and scored four times.
Senior Tim Sweeney (Walpole, Mass.) paced the Colonels with three hits and three RBI. Junior Brad Hawn (Chino Hills, Calif.) also had three of Curry’s 18 total hits.
Senior Mo Gardner (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) improved to 7-1 on the season despite surrendering 11 hits, three walks and nine earned runs in five innings of work. Gardner also struck out four. Borges tossed the final four innings for his sixth save, allowing seven hits, two walks and three earned runs while fanning five.
Senior Cory Collins (Whitman, Mass.) absorbed the loss, falling to 5-2. He went five innings, giving up 11 hits, one walk and eight earned runs, while striking out four.
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