JCC Baseball Takes Care of Business Down in Schenectady

Jefferson's baseball team traveled down to Schenectady, NY over the weekend for a conference double header against Schenectady Community College. It was all around a great day for them as they were able to score runs in bunches and never lose sight of what they came to do. JCC walked away with two important victories to help them stay on track for the ultimate season goal, which is to find a way to be playing come the middle of May.

From the top of the 1^st inning in game 1, JCC got the early lead and never looked back. Hunter Holliday led off the game by doubling down the left field line, and then 2 batters later, William Sanborn reaches base safely on a throwing error, which brought Holliday around to score to give us a 1-0 lead. Benjamin Wilcox took the mound for Jefferson to start the day, and settled in nicely after the 1^st inning. In the top of the 3^rd inning, Jefferson breaks the 1-1 tie and hangs 5 runs up. Hunter Holliday, Naim Bibovic and Jason Kavanaugh were all major pieces to the big inning. Holliday started the inning off with a single, Joshua Navarra and William Sanborn both reach base safely as well. Bibovic hits a double scoring 2 runs, and Kavanaugh follows right behind him with another double to drive in a run. Once the 3^rd out was recorded, the Cannoneers led 6-1. Schenectady tallied one more run on in the top of the 4^th inning to make the score 6-2. JCC comes back up to bat in the top of the 5^th inning, Bibovic and Kavanaugh reach base via singles, Tim Gaudioso works a 3-2 walk to load the bases, and Hunter Holliday came through again with his second double of the game, clearing the bases, extending the lead to 9-2. Benjamin Wilcox never lost composure on the mound, and pitched with confidence all game, only allowing the Royals one batter to reach base in the final two innings. With a 7 run lead entering the 6^th inning, the Cannonneers continued to put the pressure on SCCC, adding 4 more runs in the top of the 6^th to extend the lead to 13-2. Wilcox was efficient in the bottom of the 6^th, shutting Schenectady down in order. Jefferson wins game one 13-2 via 10 run mercy rule in 6 innings.

After winning game one comfortably, Jefferson had been here before and today they learned from their past, and didn't take any innings off. Schenectady managed to sit JCC down in the top of the first with a 1-2-3 inning. Joshua Navarra got the nod to start game 2 for Jefferson on the mound, and was dominant from the start, only allowing 1 hit over 6 innings of work and striking out 9 batters. In the top of the 2^nd inning, Naim Bibovic reached base via walk, and worked around the bases, then Wilber Guzman singled up the middle to bring Bibovic around to take a 1-0 lead. Navarra on the mound was in control throughout the whole game, tallying at least 1 strikeout each inning he pitched. Going into the top of the 5^th inning, JCC only led 2-0 but finally was able to break through for 4 runs. William Sanborn got it started with an absolute blast over the left center part of the fence for a solo home run. Jason Kavanaugh then hits a double, Zachary Scannell follows with a single, Guzman and Conner Loveless reach on walks, and Hunter Holliday then singles to bring Scannell and Guzman into score. With a 6-1 lead in the top of inning 6, the Cannoneers tallied 4 more runs with the help of some fielding errors and walks from Schenectady, to take a 10-0 lead into the bottom of the 6^th. Going into the bottom of 6^th inning, Navarra had a no hitter going but then was broken up by a triple from Matt Dagostino, who then scored on a sacrifice fly to get Schenectady on the board, but still trailed JCC 1-10. Noah Ingerson relieved Navarra for the final inning of the game, only allowing 1 hit and 1 run, managed to get 3 outs without allowing SCC to get anything going. Jefferson wins game two with a final score of 10-2 and completes the sweep on the road, to improve to 3-1 in conference play.

Jefferson looks to continue their eastern conference play this upcoming week with games at Columbia Greene Community College and SUNY Adirondack.