WESTFIELD — It has not happened at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy since 1982.
In his 43rd and final campaign, Bob Corradi’s Buccaneers swept host Westfield State Saturday afternoon — 4-2 and 7-3 — to clinch at least a share of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season baseball championship title and clinched the number one seed in the MASCAC postseason tournament that is set to begin Friday at Commodore Hendy Field in Buzzards Bay.
Mass. Maritime’s second baseman Jake Petruzzelli went 3-6 with one RBI on the day to pace the Bucs to a sweep of Westfield State.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
Never in the history of Massachusetts Maritime Academy athletics has any team in any sport earned the highest postseason seed and, thus, earned the right to host a postseason tournament or all postseason games. In 1982, Massachusetts Maritime clinched regular-season championship titles in wrestling, men’s basketball and baseball and in 1983 won the New England Football Conference title. The Bucs also won the MASCAC men’s cross country title in 2005.
To put things into perspective, three-fourths of Coach Corradi’s career has passed by since his baseball Buccaneers last captured a title.
“We didn’t walk into it,” an obviously elated Coach Corradi said after clinching the top spot. “We won it. We didn’t back into it. After we lost to Fitchburg State and we were 4-4 (in conference play), for these guys to come back like they have is special. It’s been a long, long time but we’ve been working at it and working at it and working at it. It’s good stuff.”
Mass. Maritime southpaw junior Kevin Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.) and righty junior Alex Rozak (Plymouth, Mass.) provided quality starts on the mound for Corradi’s Bucs, winning games one and two of the doubleheader, respectively.
The visiting Buccaneers, who have won seven straight in improving to 16-9 overall while finishing 10-4 in MASCAC play, tied for the conference title with both Worcester State and Salem State, but Massachusetts Maritime will host the 2015 MASCAC tournament next weekend at Commodore Hendy Field by virtue of twinbill sweeps of both Framingham State and Westfield State this week.
Massachusetts Maritime won a school record 28 games in 1982 in what was then Corradi’s 10th season at the helm, and ultimately went on to claim the ECAC New England crown. The Buccaneers were picked to finish fifth in this season’s pre-season poll but have won eight of their last nine and nine of their last 11 outings dating back to April 12.
“Unbelievable. Unbelievable, that’s all I can say right now,” said Corradi, who earned his 577th and 578th career victories with today’s sweep. “These kids have battled all year. They’ve battled the brutal winter and having so many games cancelled. They’ve battled tough opponents in our league and have shown great resiliency. I’m just so happy for them, and especially for my seniors, who will go out as champions.”
Mass. Maritime third baseman Terrence Mudie played critical defense for the Bucs in their sweep of the Westfield State Owls on the road Saturday afternoon.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
Massachusetts Maritime took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the opener on freshman William Keane’s (Braintree, Mass.) RBI-single, but the host Owls (18-11, 5-7 MASCAC) evened matters in the bottom of the frame when junior Connor Sheridan (South Hadley, Mass.) stole home. That score held up until the sixth when sophomore Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) ignited a three-run rally with an RBI-single that gave the Buccaneers the lead for good. The Bucs added two more tallies on Keane’s second run-scoring single of the day that was followed by an RBI-double off the bat of senior Bobby Rosano (North Reading, Mass.). Westfield State threatened in the seventh by loading the bases with one out, but the hosts were able to plate only a single run on Sheridan’s RBI fielder’s choice that accounted for the final 4-2 score.
Petruzzelli rapped out two of Massachusetts Maritime’s eight opening-game hits to pace the offense. Kwedor scattered five hits and worked around three walks while striking out seven to improve to 6-2 on the mound. Junior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) allowed two hits and a walk in the final frame, but he escaped with just one run allowed to earn his fourth save of the spring for the Buccaneers. Senior Jeremy Tanguay (Huntington, Mass.) and sophomore Nate Barnes (Westfield, Mass.) each had two of Westfield State’s seven hits in the opening setback, as senior Tommy Nowlan (Williamstown, Mass.) allowed a pair of earned runs and fanned five in going the distance on the hill for the Owls, falling to 2-1 on the season.
Deadlocked in the second game, 0-0, Mass. Maritime senior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass.) staked the Bucs to a second inning lead in the nightcap with a two-run homer (his second of the spring). Westfield State sliced that margin to one in the third on an RBI-double by junior Dan McCormack (Shelton, Conn.), but the hosts could not match their guests score at any point in the game. The Buccaneers took control of the contest with a three-run fifth inning rally highlighted by a two-run triple off the bat of freshman Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass.), who then scored on fellow freshman
Massachusetts Maritime’s Connor Kennedy went 4-7 with two RBI in the Buccaneers’ two-game sweep of Westfield State Saturday at Hagan Field.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
Connor Kennedy’s (West Barnstable, Mass.) RBI-single, but the Owls got a run back in the bottom of the frame on McCormack’s second run-scoring two-bagger of the contest. The visitors extended their edge to 6-2 in the sixth on Rosano’s sacrifice fly and added an insurance tally in the seventh on Connor Kennedy’s second RBI single of the game, as the hosts again threatened in the bottom of the inning but scored just once on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Pat McWilliams (Duxbury, Mass.) to give Massachusetts Maritime its first twinbill sweep of Westfield State since 1996.
Connor Kennedy (3-3) collected three of the Buccaneers’ 13 hits in the nightcap triumph, while Sullo, Keane and junior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) each had two hits for the visitors. Rozak allowed a pair of runs over the first four innings of work in improving to 4-1 on the season for Massachusetts Maritime, as senior Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) allowed three hits and struck out four in recording the final nine outs to earn his sixth save of the spring. McCormack rapped out three of Westfield State’s seven hits in the second game setback, as junior Justin Thomson (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings of work to fall to 2-2 on the mound for the Owls.
Massachusetts Maritime received some pretty stellar defensive play from the likes of third baseman Terrence Mudie and Downs at first base, but rookie catcher Tyler Chaisson did yeoman’s work behind the plate catching both games of the doubleheader in their entirety.
“I’m just so happy for my guys,” Corradi said. “We earned it. We threw the ball around (well) and I told them ‘that’s when I knew you weren’t tight’. With Mudie making all those great plays at third today and Downsy picking it at first… that’s when you know you’re playing loose. I told my guys ‘know you belong’.”
Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s Kevin Kwedor won his 6th game of the season Saturday in a superlative effort.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
Massachusetts Maritime hosts the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in a non-league outing Sunday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 2:00 p.m., while Westfield State heads to Fitchburg, Mass. on Sunday afternoon to take on Fitchburg State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader that begins at Noon. The Buccaneers will wrap up the regular season on Tuesday with a make-up game against Coast Guard.
Mass. Maritime also earned a bye from the single-elimination phase of the MASCAC postseason tournament on Wednesday, then host a single game on Friday (May 1) and a pair of games on Saturday (May 2). Corradi said the final pairings should be released Sunday.
BATTERIES
MMA: Kevin Kwedor, Kyle Kennedy (7) and Tyler Chaisson
WES: Tommy Nowlan and Dan Whigham, Evan Moorhouse (6)
WP: Kwedor (6-2) LP: Nowlan (2-1) Save: K. Kennedy (4)
BATTERIES
MMA: Alex Rozak, Zac Cooney (5) and Tyler Chaisson
WES: Justin Thomson, Mike Hersey (5), Jeff Svendsen (7) and Evan Moorhouse
WP: Rozak (4-1) LP: Thomson (2-2) Save: Cooney (6)
Home Run: MMA – Greg Downs (2)
— Sean Walsh is the Sports Editor for Capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
