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Centenary 5, Gwynedd-Mercy 4
2013 CSAC Tournament Elimination Game
BOX SCORE
BOYERTOWN, PA. -- Gwynedd-Mercy was eliminated from the 2013 CSAC Baseball Tournament in a close 5-4 loss to Centenary on Saturday.
The Griffins, who suffered a 14-8 defeat to Neumann on Friday, needed to win to remain alive in the conference double-elimination playoff.
Sophomore
Matt Rakus (Sewell, N.J./St. Augustine) battled through all nine innings, scattering three earned runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Each team took advantage of errors as five of the nine total runs were unearned. Gwynedd used a dropped infield popup with two outs in the first, to allow
Dante Cassano (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) to score from second. Cassano's error in the top of the second enabled the Cyclones to get on the board.
After Centenary drove in a run for a 2-1 lead in the third, GM answered on an RBI double from freshman
Mike Marchitto (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) and the teams were tied again.
Nick Ortiz gave the Cyclones a two-run lead as his single in the fourth plated two runs. The Griffins made it 4-3, scoring a run on an error in left in the fifth. With the sacks full and two outs in the sixth, Cassano's second error at first allowed another unearned run to score to give Centenary a 5-3 edge.
Rick Elfreth's (Washington Twp., N.J./St. Augustine) RBI groundout in the bottom of the sixth would pull GM back within one.
Chad Frankenfield came on in relief of starter Mitch Renz in the eighth and would work out of two big spots. GM would get two on with one out in the eighth before back-to-back fly outs ended that chance. In their final at bat, the Griffins worked to get two on via walks. A passed ball with two outs moved the runners up into scoring position where Cassano got a good piece of a pitch to left, but Ortiz was able to track it down to end the game.
Cassano finished with three hits, a run scored, and a stolen base. Sophomore
Jordano Rodriguez (Philadelphia, Pa./Mariana Bracenti) went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run.
Josh Martin (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X), the team's lone senior, ends his stellar campaign as a Griffin, leaving the program as the all-time leader in runs scored (167) and stolen bases (102). His eight triples as a freshman (2010) are also a single-season record.
Gwynedd-Mercy finishes the season at 20-18.
