Cannoneers Outslug Finger Lakes to Earn Trip to 2016 NJCAA Region III Final Four

The opening round of the 2016 NJCAA Region III Baseball Tournament is a best of a three game series which featured the 3^rd seed Cannonneers playing on the road at the 2^nd seed Finger Lakes Lakers. Finger Lakes was most recently ranked 9^th in the nation in the NJCAA poll and set a record for wins in a season with 39. The opening three game series would feature rain and windy conditions while both teams combined would score 77 runs with the winner earning a trip to the 2016 NJCAA Region III Final Four.

Game one featured a matchup of pitching aces in Jarrod Bellinger for the Cannoneers and Reston Pettit for the Lakers. Coming into game one, Bellinger's ERA for the season was 1.79 and Pettit had 8 pitching wins.

The Cannoneers struck first in the top of the first inning when leadoff batter Victor Christiansen walked and was sacrificed over by Joel Reynoso and scored later on an RBI ground out by Hunter Thomas.

Moving into the 4^th inning the game would be tied at 1 when the Lakers offense put up 3 more runs in the bottom half taking a 4-1 lead. The Cannoneers would cut their lead to 2 in the top of the 6^th when an RBI single by freshmen Matthew Villalobos scored Emmanuel Olivo.

Finger Lakes would then add 2 more runs in the bottom of the 6^th taking a 6-2 lead. Answering right back the Cannonneers would add 2 more runs in the top of the 7^th cutting the lead to 6-4. With one out, four consecutive singles by Hunter Thomas, Edward Corniel, Toure Parpit-Sinclair, and Emmanuel Olivo would produce 2 runs on Olivo's single.

Unable to stop the Laker offense, Finger Lakes would continue to cut Jefferson's rally by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 7^th, taking a 10-4 lead. The Cannoneers again would respond by adding 3 runs in the top of the 8^th cutting the lead to 10-7. Joel Reynoso and Hunter Thomas singled, then RBI's by Edward Corniel on a base hit and Toure Parpit-Sinclair on a fielder's choice.

Finger Lakes would again add 2 more runs in the bottom of the 8^th brining their lead to 12-7 before striking out three Cannoneers in a row in the top of the 9^th to take the game one victory.

In game two the Cannoneers sent out starter Tyler Stroud hoping to save their season and push the series to game three on Sunday. Finger Lakes would answer first adding a run in the bottom half of the first inning.

In the top of the 2^nd Jefferson would add 2 runs by a wild throw produced by singles from Benjamin Godbout and John Andrews. Like the first game, Finger Lakes would respond when Jefferson scored and they would add four runs in the bottom of the 2^nd now taking a 5-2 lead moving into the 3^rd inning.

In the top of the 3^rd Hunter Thomas would add a run on a solo home run which would spark a rally where the Cannoneers would add four more runs in the frame. After Thomas's solo shot, Edward Corniel would double, Toure Parpit-Sinclair walked, Emmanuel Olivo would single, and then Benjamin Godbout would hit a sacrifice fly scoring Corniel to make it 5-4 Finger Lakes. Freshmen John Andrews would then give Jefferson the lead by hitting a 3 run homerun over the left field wall making the score 7-5.

Finger Lakes would answer yet again to a Jefferson rally by adding 1 more run in the bottom of the 3^rd. In the 4^th inning the Cannoneers sent Freshmen George Amalvert to the mound and he would pitch 5 scoreless innings eventually earning the win for the Cannoneers.

Additional offensive for Jefferson came in the 6^th inning when they put up one run scored by Hunter Thomas after being hit by a pitch to get on base. In the 7^th inning, the Cannoneers would add 3 more runs when Hunter Thomas would hit a 3 run homerun to deep left center making the score 11-6. Then in the top of the 8^th, the Cannoneers would add 3 more runs from RBI's from Victor Christiansen and Edward Corniel bringing the score to 14-6.

George Amalvert would get the final out on a ground out to shortstop Hunter Thomas, and finished with 5 innings pitched, striking out 2, allowing 5 hits, and 0 runs scored earning the victory for the Cannoneers in relief.

Game three was pushed forward 30 minutes due to a poor weather forecast which would call for 70% change of rain for most of the afternoon. The Cannoneers would take an early 2-0 lead when Victor Christiansen lead off with a single, followed by a sacrifice by Joel Reynoso, a walk to Hunter Thomas, and a 2 RBI double from Toure Parpit-Sinclair.

Finger Lakes would add 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning taking a 3-2 lead moving into the 2^nd inning. The Cannoneers would add 1 run knotting up the game at 3 when Victor Christiansen would hit a 2 out double and would later score on a pass ball.

The Cannoneers would add 3 more runs in the top of the 3^rd taking a 6-3 lead highlighted off a Victor Christiansen 2 RBI double, his second of the game. Finger Lakes would add 3 more runs of their own in the bottom half again tying the score at 6.

In the bottom of the 4^th, Finger Lakes would add 4 more runs taking an early 10-6 lead. The Cannoneers responded by scoring 2 runs in the top of the 5^th to cut the lead to 10-8. In the 5^th Toure Parpit-Sinclair would hit a leadoff solo homerun, and Benjamin Godbout would eventually score off a fielding error hit by Victor Christiansen.

Again Finger Lakes responded by scoring 2 more runs in the bottom of the 5^th, taking a 12-8 lead into the 6^th inning. The Cannoneers would add 1 more in the top of the 6^th when Hunter Thomas would score on an RBI from Edward Corniel.

In the top of the 7^th, Jefferson would add 6 more runs highlighted by 2 RBI triple from Edward Corniel and a 2 RBI single from John Andrews. Finger Lakes would again add 1 run after the Jefferson rally in the bottom frame of the 7^th.

The Cannoneers kept adding when they scored 2 more runs in the top of the 8^th scoring on a pass ball and an RBI single by catcher Emmanuel Olivo. Finger Lakes would add 3 runs in the bottom of the inning making the score 17-16 going into the 9^th inning. Freshmen George Amalvert came in relief of Jon Mele to get the final out in the bottom of the 8^th after earning the win in game two the day before.

In the top of the 9^th, the Cannoneers would add 5 runs with an RBI single by Joel Reynoso and Edward Corniel, then a 2 RBI single by sophomore Mathew Ardizzi bringing the score to 22-16 entering the bottom of the 9^th.

In the bottom frame, Amalvert would get two quick outs from ground balls before a short infield hit would put a runner at first base. On a 2-2 pitch Amalvert got the Finger Lakes hitter to pop up to 2^nd base where the final out was recorded securing a 22-16 victory for the Cannoneers. Freshmen Jon Mele earned the win in game three while Amalvert recorded the save.

This will be the first time in Coach Northrop's tenure the Cannoneers travel to the NJCAA Region III Final Four. The Final Four is hosted by Herkimer County Community College and is held at Veteran's Memorial Park in Little Falls, NY. Jefferson is seeded 4^th and will play 1 seed Niagara County Community College Friday May 20^th with first pitch scheduled for 5pm.