#1 Generals get first win at nationals over #2 Century

KINSTON, NC – Collecting six hits and six runs in their first two innings of the NJCAA DIII World Series, the #1 Herkimer Generals baseball team cruised to a 10-2 victory over #2 Century Community College Saturday (5/23) at Grainger Stadium, the host for the 2015 national tournament.

Herkimer (46-4) got their first big hit from freshman Jake Rouse (Milfort, CT), doubling home Tyler Phillips (Hancock, NY) and Chris Rave (Middletown, NY) who reached base via a walk and single with two outs in the first, giving Herkimer the first lead of the game 2-0. Rouse finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs batted in, building off the Region III Tournament where he had four RBI in his last three games.

A sacrifice by Eric Downey (Colonie, NY), triple by Patrick Dorrian (Kingston, NY) and single by Phillips plated four more runs for the Generals in the second, increasing the lead to 6-0. Downey finished the game 0-for-2 with one RBI, Dorrian finished 1-for-5 with one RBI and Phillips finished 4-for-4 with two RBI.

The Wood Ducks cut the deficit to 6-2 after Herkimer starter Michael Harrington (Glens Falls, NY) walked and hit the first two batters he faced in the inning, seeing Century load the bases with no outs. The sophomore regrouped however, even with an error on top of the free passes to only allow two earned runs, needing Brandon Nylin (Hyde Park, NY) to come in relief for the final four innings. Nylin, just like Harrington only allowed three hits, but Nylin didn't allow any runs to score, striking out three Wood Ducks during his appearance for his fourth (4-0) win of the season.

Driving in Herkimer's final four runs via the single was Rave, Christian Malave (Milford, CT), John Boland (Rhinebeck, NY) and Phillips. Rave scored Taishi Terashima (Hiranai, Japan) in the fourth (7-2), Malave scored Phillips and Boland scored Rouse in the sixth (9-2) and Phillips plated Terashima in the seventh to make it 10-2.

Up next for the Generals is #3 Tyler. The Apache's, who are defending champs, defeated Northern Essex 5-1 in the opening round. Somehow the top three teams in the nation got grouped in the same bracket, thus Herkimer will need to again defy the odds on Sunday, May 24^th when they play Tyler at 7 p.m.

Score:

Herkimer Generals 10, Century Wood Ducks 2

Generals 240 102 1 – 10 13 0

Wood Ducks 020 000 0 – 2 6 3

WP: Brandon Nylin (4-0) LP: Ryan Schlosser (9-3); 2B: Herkimer 1 (Rouse); 3B: Generals 1 (Dorrian); RBI: Herkimer 8 (Phillips 2, Rouse 2, Dorrian, Rave, Malave, Boland) Century 2 (Anderson, Hasselquist); Records: Herkimer 27-1, 46-4 Century 38-8

-Giorgio Varlaro