MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 21 University of New Haven baseball team opened the scoring with an early run and Matt Chamberlain (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) reached base twice, scoring a run in a7-1 loss to Felician in the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship. With the defeat, the Chargers 2017 campaign comes to a close with a 31-13 record, the first 30-win season for the program since 2013.
The Blue and Gold got on the board in the first inning as a pair of walks opened the inning followed by a sacrifice bunt and a sac fly by Nick Perrelli (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) to take a 1-0 lead. The Golden Falcons battled back in the middle innings, scoring all of their runs to build the lead.
As a team, New Haven finished with five hits total with Chamberlain, Perrelli, Andrew Garcia (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford), Robert Petrillo (Branford, Conn./Branford) and Jack Zagaja (Merrick, N.Y./St. Dominic) each collecting a base knock.
Perrelli finished the postseason hitting .394 with a home run and nine RBI, stealing three bases in nine games combined between the Northeast-10 Conference Championship and the NCAA Tournament.
HIGHLIGHTS
- New Haven got on the board in the first inning as Chamberlain and Tom Walraven (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) walked to open the frame. Petrillo sacrificed the runners to second and third before Perrelli lifted a sac fly to score Chamberlain for a 1-0 lead.
- Felician responded in the middle innings, combining to score seven runs in the third, fourth and fifth.
- Undaunted, the Chargers threatened in the sixth as singles by Chamberlain and Petrillo put runners on the corners with two outs, but were unable to push a run across.
- The bullpen tandem of Josh Walker (Otisville, N.Y./Minisink Valley), Will Aldam (Danbury, Conn./Berkshire School) and Connor Moriarty (Branford, Conn./Branford) combined to hold Felician scoreless for the final four innings with Walker authoring two frames and Aldam retiring all four batters he faced.