WILMINGTON, Del. - Junior pitcher Eric Hines (Milltown, NJ/Spotswood) tossed a three-hitter, and sophomore outfielder Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) blasted his second home run of the tournament to lead the Caldwell College baseball team to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament title with a 3-0 victory over Dominican College Sunday morning at Wilson Field. The championship is the second CACC Tournament crown in the 13-year history of the program for the Cougars (32-17), who now advance to the NCAA Division II Northeast Region Tournament for the second year in a row.
With the game still scoreless in the top of the fourth inning, Saxon launched a shot high into the pine trees over Wilson Field's left field fence for a 1-0 Caldwell lead. The Cougars added two more runs in the top of the seventh. After a pair of walks, junior Jorge Torres (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) roped a pinch-hit single to right that scored senior Chris Chiarappa (Elmont, NJ/Holy Trinity). Then with sophomore Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City) on third, freshman Edgar Santos (Woodside, NY/Bryant) executed a squeeze play with a sacrifice bunt that allowed Velazquez to score from third for a 3-0 lead.
Hines (5-1) did the rest, scattering three singles while not allowing a runner to reach second base the entire game. The right-hander struck out a career-high 11 batters while walking only two in nine innings for the Cougars' second consecutive three-hit shutout in the tournament. On Saturday, sophomore Robert Casal (Howard Beach, NY/St. Francis Prep) also gave up three hits in nine innings in a 2-0 win over top-seeded Philadelphia University. Dominican's Brian Craig also pitched well, giving up three runs on three hits in eight innings to take the loss.
Saxon, who hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to defeat Dominican, 6-5 in the tournament's first game on Thursday, was named the tourney's Most Valuable Player. Starting pitchers Hines, Casal and junior Stephen Pfeil (Hampstead, NH/Pinherton Acad.), who started the first game against Dominican, all made the all-Tournament Team, as did Chiarappa, who had three assists from behind the plate today.
The Cougars turn their attention to the Northeast Region Tournament, which begins on Thursday, May 15. This is the third trip to the regional in five years for Caldwell. The location, teams and game times will be announced on Monday.
