WENHAM, Mass.—Sixth-seeded Curry College ended Gordon Baseball's 2016 campaign on Friday afternoon with a 6-3 result on day two of the Commonwealth Coast Conference playoffs. Freshman Matt Fogarty (Millis, Mass.) got things done on the mound and at the dish to help the Colonels beat the Fighting Scots in the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Curry (13-23) moves on to the final four of the CCC playoffs in a field of familiar faces. Each of the four teams remaining account for the last 12 championships in the conference after Western New England knocked out No. 3 Nichols on Friday as well.

Gordon ends its season at .500 with a 19-19 record, tying the all-time program record for wins. However, Gordon fell on the wrong side of a flurry of close games down the stretch, leading to a 4-11 finish in its last 15 games.

Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.) provided much of the offense for the Fighting Scots on the day, reaching base four times. After Scott Hall (Weymouth, Mass.) held the Colonels in the first, Demers smacked a 1-1 pitch down the right-field line for a double. Unfortunately for the Scots, they were unable to move their leading batter past third base.

Trouble struck for the Scots in the second inning when William De La Cruz (Bronx, N.Y.) hit a two-out double to the gap in right. Gordon looked to get out of the inning on a groundout, but an errant throw allowed De La Cruz to tag home for a 1-0 advantage.

Curry continued to chip away in the third with a pair of singles by Anthony Sciaudone (York, Maine) and Kyle Connors (Stoughton, Mass.). Connors was credited with the RBI in the inning to make it 2-0.

Gordon threatened for the second time in the game in the bottom of the fourth. Chris Leavitt (Bridgewater, Mass.) walked with two outs before Ryan Paulsen (Latham, N.Y.) hit a rocket to the wall in left center to put two in scoring position. Fogarty was able to work the count to his advantage and earned a swinging strikeout to get out of trouble.

The Colonels continued to add runs with small ball in the sixth inning, earning a walk and a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Fogarty eventually scored on a double play for a 3-0 lead.

The home team finally broke through in the bottom half of the sixth due to the Colonels committing a throwing error in the first at-bat of the frame. Paulsen made them pay with a two-out triple to the wall in left to score Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) easily.

Curry managed to find the holes all afternoon with balls falling just in front of fielders or crawling just under gloves for base hits. The Colonels tagged Hall for 16 hits in 8.2 innings, but only one went for extra bases.

The visitors added three insurance runs between the eighth and ninth innings off the bats of John Arens (Milton, Mass.), Ben Lary (Kennebunk, Maine) and De La Cruz, putting Gordon in a deep 6-1 hole.   

With a high pitch count looming, Gordon finally began to make Fogarty work in the bottom of the ninth. Gordon loaded the bases on three walks before the scalding-hot Demers sent a 0-1 pitch into the corner in right. Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.) came to bat representing the tying run with two outs. Tarr laced a two-strike pitch to the gap in right-center, but the speedy Arens came off his post in right to keep the ball from landing and preserved the win.

Curry's 16 hits was its second-highest total of the season behind a 21-hit effort in a win over regionally ranked Suffolk. Arens, Fogarty and De La Cruz led the way with three knocks apiece while Nick Crivello (Millville, Mass.) and Lary each had two.

Fogarty went 8.2 innings strong with six strikeouts and only one walk before the issuing three in the ninth. Freshman Brandon Bercovitz (W. Bridgewater, Mass.) came in to get the one-out save.

Demers and Paulsen account for all of Gordon's six hits and three RBI. Demers ends the season with a .417 batting average and tied the program-record mark of four triples in a single season.

Gordon broke other team records in batting average (.286), fielding percentage (.957) and hits (318).  (Game Recap Courtesy of Gordon Sports Information)