Lions eliminate Pats from D-I playoffs

Matt Metcalf
Posted 6/9/15

The Pilgrim baseball team staved off an elimination game against Middletown, defeating the Islanders, 6-0, on Thursday afternoon before getting eliminated by second-seeded Lincoln on Saturday, …

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Lions eliminate Pats from D-I playoffs

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The Pilgrim baseball team staved off an elimination game against Middletown, defeating the Islanders, 6-0, on Thursday afternoon before getting eliminated by second-seeded Lincoln on Saturday, falling to the Lions, 3-0.

On Thursday, senior right-hander Chris Duchesneau hurled a gem to keep his team’s season alive, allowing just three hits in a complete-game shutout.

“Duchesneau dominated against Middletown,” Pilgrim head coach Scott Bailey said. “He didn’t allow a runner to third base and only two to second. He had all of his pitches going, had a low pitch count and he was awesome. But he’s been awesome all year, so it didn’t surprise us.”

The win eliminated Middletown, setting up a loser’s bracket game between Pilgrim and Lincoln. The winner would have to beat Coventry twice to earn a spot in the Final Four at McCarthy Field.

But the Lions’ pitching and defense proved to be too much for the sixth-seeded Pats. Lincoln’s Ryan Brehio tossed a complete-game shutout, as he was aided by a number of dazzling plays made behind him.

Lincoln’s offense didn’t waste any time getting Brehio some run support.

In the bottom of the first, Jason Doris singled to lead off the inning. He was then picked off on a good move from Pilgrim southpaw Mike Broccoli.

But back-to-back doubles from Jake Petrin and Mason Palmeiri plated the game’s first run, giving Lincoln an early 1-0 advantage.

That’s where the score would remain for the next three innings.

Pilgrim had its best opportunity to get on the board in the top of the fourth, but it let that opportunity fall by the wayside.

Brehio recorded two quick outs in that inning, but back-to-back singles by Duchesneau and Tyler Perry got Pilgrim’s offense going.

Broccoli then drew a walk to load the bases, bringing up Elijah Dressel, who walked in his first plate appearance.

However, Brehio buckled down after looking a bit shaky, freezing Dressel with a called third strike on the outer half to escape the jam.

Lincoln then upped its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth thanks in large part to a Pilgrim defensive miscue.

After a leadoff single by Connor Sheehan, Nathan Taylor laid down a sacrifice bunt, but when Pilgrim fielded the ball, no one was covering first. Because of the miscommunication, Lincoln had first and second with no one out.

Sheehan scored later in the inning on a groundout by Doris.

Some more shaky defense in the bottom of the sixth by Pilgrim allowed Lincoln to tack on another run.

Pilgrim started the sixth with two consecutive errors to put Broccoli in a tough spot on the bump.

Ryan Havunen came around to score on a suicide squeeze by Sheehan to make it a 3-0 game.

However, Broccoli did a great job in minimizing the damage in the inning after the pair of errors, yielding just the one run.

The senior scattered seven hits and allowed two earned runs over six innings of work in the loss for Pilgrim.

“Broccoli threw great,” Bailey said. “Every time he steps on the mound, he does a great job. He’s a gamer.”

Offensively, Evan Broccoli, Duchesneau and Perry had the only hits for Pilgrim.

Pilgrim’s spring came to an end after recording a 9-9 record during the regular season and earning one playoff win.

“The season was great,” Bailey said. “It was a blast playing up in this division. We were in the south division last year. It was very competitive [this year].”

The Pats, unfortunately, just ran into a team that has been playing well all season. The Lions finished second in Division I-A behind only Hendricken with a 15-3 record.

“Lincoln’s a good team and they played great,” Bailey said. “We played hard and had a good season.”

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