JOHNSTOWN & CRESSON, Pa. – After suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the opening game of the AMCC Championship round to #2 Penn State Behrend, 5-4, by way of walk-off. The Redhawks, with their season on the line, returned to the field later in the day in a win or game home matchup against top seeded Mt. Aloysius and took down the Mounties on their own home turf, 8-4.
GAME ONE: Penn State Behrend 5 La Roche 4
Behrend was the first to crack the board, scoring a single run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
La Roche had an immediate response in the top of the second, as Christian Melendez belted a three-run homer over the very high left field wall at Sargent's Stadium in Johnstown, making it 3-1.
Later in the inning, the final run of the game crossed for the Redhawks, as Danny Suarez singled in Tanner Schmitt.
The 4-1 edge held steady until the Lions scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, followed by trimming the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
With a chance to add insurance, La Roche loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, but weren't able to pull through.
Another runner would be left stranded at second base with just one out in the top of the ninth.
Behrend would take advantage of the missed opportunities by the Redhawks, scoring a pair of runs to walk-off with the victory.
Casey Jones got the start for La Roche and threw 8.1 innings, allowing five runs, nine hits, three walks and struck out 12.
Cameron Mauk entered in relief and faced one batter, allowing a hit.
Offensively, the Redhawks had eight hits in the game, but only four between innings three through nine. Suarez and Dimitri Gary lead the way with two hits each.
GAME TWO: La Roche 8 Mt. Aloysius 4
La Roche's season was on the line in the second game of the day, just three hours after the first game concluded and had to venture from Johnstown to Cresson so they could meet top seeded and host Mt. Aloysius on its home field.
Game two started fast for the Redhawks, as two runs scored right away.
Gary plated Schmitt with an RBI groundout to open the scoring, then Caden Maffitt's RBI single crossed Josh Dreyer to make it 2-0.
The pitchers would dominate through the first five innings, until the Mounties trimmed the edge to 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth.
Brandon Snyder gave the two-run edge right back to La Roche in the top of the sixth, bringing home Maffitt with an RBI single.
Mt. Aloysius countered in the bottom of the sixth, as an RBI single and a wild pitch tied the game.
The Redhawks were not willing to allow another heartbreaker, as the red and black scored four runs immediately in their next at-bats.
Maffitt again singled in a run, this time Schmitt, then Snyder followed with a two RBI single that brought in Jones and Maffitt.
Ricky Heyz was awarded an RBI as he was hit by a pitch that brought in Melendez.
The Mounties had one last rebuttal of a single run in the bottom of the seventh, one that Jones got right back for La Roche in the top of the eighth, as his RBI single closed the scoring that brought in Gary.
Larry Bielawski shined in game two on the mound, throwing a complete game in which he allowed four runs (two earned), eight hits, three walks and struck out three.
Offensively, the Redhawks peppered Mt. Aloysius to the tune of 16 hits, with Maffitt's 4-for-5, two RBI and two runs leading the way. Schmitt added a 3-for-5 showing, while Jones and Snyder each went 2-for-4.
La Roche now prepares for its second elimination game on Saturday, May 11, as the red and black will meet the loser of the AMCC Championship Round's Game #4 between #2 Penn State Behrend and #4 Alfred State. Originally scheduled for 2 p.m., the game will now be played at 1 p.m. hosted by Mt. Aloysius.