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MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Amherst senior captain Neal Allar drove the
first pitch he saw from from Williams reliever Zach Stone to deep
center field, scoring Jose Espinosa with the winning run in the
bottom of the 10th inning as the Jeffs walked off with a 9-8
victory in an elimination game of the NESCAC Tournament Saturday
afternoon.
The Ephs had dropped a 1-0 decision to Tufts earlier in the day,
while Amherst fell to Trinity, 9-1. Williams finished its season at
24-12 while the Jeffs improved to 23-11-1 and will play Tufts in
another elimination game Sunday at 9 a.m.
Amherst rallied from an 8-4 deficit against the Ephs, scoring
four unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game
before winning it in the 10th. Espinosa triggered the winning rally
when he was hit by a Tom Coleman pitch with one out. He then stole
second with two outs and a 2-0 pitch on Brendan Powers. The Ephs
then decided to intentionally walk Powers.
Williams head coach Bill Barrale brought in Stone, a
left-hander, to face Allar, the Amherst clean-up hitter. Allar
drove Stone's first pitch deep to straightaway center field over
the head of center fielder Max Pinto to score the game-winner. He
was credited with a double.
That rally made a winner of Amherst reliever Ryan Healy. The
Jeffs freshman tossed three perfect innings of relief, setting
Williams down in order in the eighth, ninth and 10th. He did not
allow a hit or a walk and struck out one.
Coleman took the loss, allowing one hit over 2 2/3 innings. He
walked two and struck out one.
Williams took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as James
DiCosmo and Taylor Mikell greeted Amherst starter Pat Keenan with
singles and Pinto followed with a laser to right-field that cleared
the fence for a three-run home run.
Amherst battled back with two in the second and two in the third
off Eph ace Dan Benz. Evan Bruno smacked an RBI-double in the
second that scored Nate Pedley, who had singled. Mike Neff scored
Bruno with a two-out single to right.
In the third, Bruno lined a two-run double to left-center field
that gave the Jeffs a 4-3 lead.
Williams responded in the sixth, scoring four times to take a
7-4 lead. A catcher's interference call with two outs allowed Stone
to score the tying run, and sophomore Al Mathews came through with
a line-drive single to right that plated DiCosmo, who had singled,
and Pinto, who was intentionally walked. Chad Brown then grounded a
single up the middle to score Robin Allemand, who had reached on
the catcher's interference.
Williams tacked on another run in the seventh when Barrett
Allison singled, stole second, and raced home ahead of a throw from
shortstop on a grounder hit by DiCosmo.
Amherst rallied off Eph first-year Tom Hester in the eighth.
Bruno drew a lead-off walk and pinch-hitter Nick Boehm beat out a
slow roller to second on a bang-bang play at first. Neff lined a
single to left to load the bases.
Coleman replaced Hester on the hill for Williams. Amherst
freshman Scott Shaffer greeted him with a hard one-hopper to the
left side that Eph third baseman Allison made a nice diving stop
on, but his throw home was wide, allowing two runs to score.
Espinosa then hit a topper down the first-base line that Coleman
fielded cleanly and tagged him out on. Seeing Jeff runner Neff
streaking for the plate, Coleman whirled and threw the ball past
wide of catcher Chad Brown and out of play, allowing Neff and
Shaffer to score and tying the game at eight.
