Baseball Opens Play in Florida with Two Wins
LANTANA, Fla. – The Merrimack baseball team kicked off its trip to the Sunshine State with a pair of victories. The Warriors defeated New Haven 3-2 and Saint Michael's 8-2 to improve to 5-3 on the season.
In game one of the journey, Joe Mantoni (Hopedale, Mass.) threw seven innings to stymie the Chargers. The second-year pitcher struck out eight and allowed just one earned run and five hits. Chris Pinette (Norwood, Mass.) shut the door with two efficient innings of relief work on the mound.
With the Warriors trailing in the seventh, Beau Batchelor (Peabody, Mass.) drew a leadoff walk. Batchelor advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on an error. Mark O'Flynn (Ipswich, Mass.) knocked in Batchelor with a single to level the score. After O'Flynn stole second base, Tim Curran (South Weymouth, Mass.) drove him in with a two-out hit to elevate Merrimack over New Haven.
In the second game of the day, Merrimack was led by PJ Farnham (Andover, Mass.) with three hits, two RBIS, a run and a stolen base. Mantoni, Curran and CJ Flannery (Hudson, Mass.) each finished with two hits. Curran also drove in a pair of runs for the Warriors.
On the mound, Mike Laracy (Weymouth, Mass.) picked up the win by going seven innings and giving up just one earned run. The sophomore southpaw fanned six batters in the game.
Merrimack pushed a run across the plate in the first to take a 1-0 lead early in the contest. The Purple Knights responded in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score at 1-1.
Saint Michael's took the lead in the seventh inning on a two-out single. The Warriors plated a pair of runs in the eighth to reclaim a 3-2 advantage. A five-run ninth inning coupled with two shutout innings of relief pitching by Brett Julian (Weymouth, Mass.) solidified the victory.
Merrimack resumes play March 20 against St. Thomas before finishing the road trip at Barry March 21.
