By Steven M. Glassman
Director of Sports Information
March 30, 2019
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Manor College (3-9 Overall, 1-2 Region XIX Division III, 1-1 EPAC) sophomore first baseman Hector Morales' (Philadelphia, PA/Esperanza Charter) two-out, pop-up infield single scored freshman center fielder Shawn Vega (Philadelphia, PA/Olney Charter) as the Blue Jays defeated the Delaware County Community College Phantoms (2-11, 1-6, 1-1) in game two of a doubleheader, 11-10, in eight innings, at Lighthouse Field.
The Phantoms opened up its scoring with four runs in the first on two hits and sent 10 batters the plate. Freshman right fielder David Moskowitz' none-out, RBI double scored sophomore Takuya Ikeda. Freshman third baseman Mark Bianchi's two-out single scored freshman right fielder Zachery Cariola. Delaware County finished off the inning with consecutive RBI bases loaded walks by freshman second baseman Solomon Bayuk and freshman shortstop Jahleel McElwee.
Manor responded in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three runs on three hits. Vega led off with a double to center and advanced to third on sophomore starting pitcher Jose Romero's (Philadelphia, PA/Frankford) ground out to second. Morales walked. Sophomore right fielder's Cristian Diaz' (Philadelphia, PA/Franklin Towne Charter) single to left scored Vega and Morales. Diaz moved to second on sophomore shortstop Sauriel Baez' (Philadelphia, PA/Esperanza Charter) ground out first. Sophomore catcher Abimael Mercado's (Philadelphia, PA/Juan Ponce De Leon [PR]) two-out double to center scored Diaz.
The Blue Jays added to its lead in the second, scoring seven runs on eight hits and sent 11 hitters to bat in the inning. Freshman left fielder Alex Bautista (Philadelphia, PA/Swenson Arts & Technology) led off the inning with a single to center, moved to second on a sophomore starting pitcher Brian O'Neil balk and advanced to third on a sophomore catcher Gabriel Frigiola passed ball. Sophomore second baseman Abdur Mujahid's (Philadelphia, PA/Boys Latin) RBI single to left scored Bautista tied the game. Mujahid stole second and scored the go-ahead run on Vega's single to left. Vega moved to second on Romero's ground out to the pitcher. Morales reached on an infield single to third, but, Bianchi's error allowed Vega to reach on the play. Morales stole second and scored along with Vega on Diaz' two-run triple to right. Baez' bad-hop single over the shortstop scored Diaz. Mercado's triple to left scored Baez. Reyes' RBI double to center scored Mercado and completed the scoring for the inning. Manor led 10-4 after two innings.
However, the Phantoms chipped away the Blue Jays' lead. Delaware County scored twice in the third. The scoring included a two-out RBI Moskowitz double which scored Ikeda. The Phantoms scored in the fifth on a Bianchi ground out which scored Cariola with two out. O'Neil's two-out single scored Ikeda and Moskowitz in the sixth to close the deficit to 10-9. Delaware County tied the game in the seventh. Ikeda led off the inning with a walk, stole second, and scored on a Moskowitz infield single.
Vega reached first on an infield single to third with two out in the eighth and advanced to third on Romero's single to center. Vega's single was the first Blue Jay hit since Baez' single with one out in the fifth, ending a 13-batter hitless streak. Romero stole second. Morales' infield pop-up single was out of the reach of Bayuk and McElwee which scored Vega to end the game. It was the first extra inning game and walk-off in Manor history.
Batting Leaders: Vega went three-for-five (including a double) with three runs and a RBI. Romero added two hits and stolen base. Morales went two-for-four with two runs scored, two stolen bases, a walk, and a RBI. Diaz went two-for-four (including a triple) and four RBI. Baez went two-for-four with a run scored and a RBI. Mercado went two-for-four (including a double and triple), two RBI, and a run scored.
Ikeda walked three times and scored four runs. Moskowitz contributed two doubles. Cariola scored twice. Bayuk walked twice for Delaware County.
Pitching Leaders: Romero started the game. Diaz (1-0) finished the game for the Blue Jays, striking out four in four innings in relief.
O'Neil (0-1) pitched a complete game for the Phantoms. He allowed two hits (Romero single in the fourth and Baez single in the fifth) between one out in the second and two out in the eighth (20 hitters over a 6 1/3 inning stretch).
Next Game: Manor plays a NJCAA Region XIX Division III doubleheader at the Union County College Owls (6-14, 1-4) on Sunday, March 31 at Warinanco Park in Roselle, New Jersey at Noon. This doubleheader was rescheduled from Saturday, March 16. The Blue Jays were previously swept on the road by the Owls. Manor lost 16-7 (in eight innings) on April 11, 2018 and 8-3 on May 7, 2018 at Walsh Field in Cranford, New Jersey.
Next Home Game: Manor hosts NJCAA Region XIX Division III Bucks County Community College on Saturday, April 6 at Noon at Lighthouse Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is the first meeting between the two schools.