Baseball Begins Season With Weekend of Games in Florida

The Erie Community College baseball team kicked off the 2022 season this weekend at the Russ Matt Invitational in central Florida.  The Kats went 4-2 over the span of games.

On Friday they came away with two wins vs. Century College.  Erie took game one 5-3. The Kats got on the board in the first inning when an error scored two runs.  Connor Desiderio led Erie to victory on the mound. The pitcher allowed three hits and three runs over six and two-thirds innings, striking out four.  Ethan Stevens threw one-third of an inning in relief out of the bullpen. Isaiah Salas went 2-for-4 at the plate.  Game two saw the Kats put up six runs in the second on its way to an 11-4 victory.  Ethan Stevens, Adam Rankie, Isaiah Salas, and AJ Karosas each drove in runs during the inning.  Sam Calcaterra was the winning pitcher for the Kats. 

Erie would drop both games of their double header on Saturday against Jackson College.  Erie fell behind early in game one and couldn't come back in a 7-1 loss. Dylan Moorhouse took the loss, surrendering five runs on nine hits over five innings, striking out two and walking one.  Adam Rankie went 2-for-4 to lead Erie at the plate.  Game two was a 8-3 loss with Spencer Harford taking the loss for the Kats. The hurler allowed six hits and six runs over three and a third innings, striking out four and walking one.

Sunday saw the Kats back in the win column, taking two from Glen Oaks Community College. Erie got things started in the first inning when Greg Hare doubled on a 1-0 count, scoring two runs en route to a 7-1 win.  Ryan Moran led the team to victory on the hill. The fireballer allowed four hits and zero runs over five innings, striking out five.  Liam McMurray threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen.  The Kats had ten hits in the game.  Adam Rankie, Christian Cabrera, and Hare all collected multiple hits while Rankie led with three hits in four at bats.  In game two, the Kats jumped out to an early lead over Glen Oaks CC and took home a 5-3 victory.  Ethan Stevens got the win going three and a third innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out six.  Elliot Berger threw three and a third innings in relief out of the bullpen.

Erie will remain in Florida and play six games this week starting with a match-up on Tuesday against Ridgewater College.