Avery Point wins tourney opener
May 7—GROTON — UConn Avery Point successfully walked the tournament tightrope on Friday.
The Pointers only had a few slip-ups but no falls while escaping with an important 4-3 victory in the opening game of the Division II sub district tournament best two-of-three series at Roger Bidwell Field.
The well-played game ended with freshman reliever Tiernan Powers striking out Monroe Community College's Connor Kiefer with the bases loaded.
"We made it interesting," Avery Point head coach Ian Ratchford said. "The guys played well. I'm very happy."
Three Avery Point pitchers combined on a three-hitter and sophomore Javon Hernandez drove in all four runs and finished with two doubles and a single.
The Pointers jumped out in front 4-0, and that was plenty enough support for starting pitcher Alex Mach (4-1) who went 7.1 innings and allowed two runs and three hits, striking out 11 and walking just one.
"That was just a gutsy performance," Ratchford said. "His slider was on. He was pitching backwards. He was getting ahead of guys. He stayed cool and calm. Kind of expect that out of him. Even though he's a freshman, he was the pitcher of the year in his conference last year. He's been our guy all year."
A former Coginchaug High School standout, Mach says he started feeling fully healthy a few weeks ago after dealing with a few nagging injuries earlier this season.
Mach started fast on Friday, striking out the side in the first and retiring the side in order in four of the first five innings to give his team's offensive attack a chance to heat up.
Except for a rocky sixth inning during which he gave up two runs and his teammates made a few mistakes behind him, Mach was in command.
"At first, my arm was hurting a little bit," Mach said. "But after that, I felt great. (Catcher) Jaden (Echevarria) was framing a lot and taking a lot of strikes for me. I was just trying to get in the zone and throw strikes because our defense has been great recently."
Mach was aided by a couple of fine defensive plays by freshman first baseman Zach Mascaro.
The Pointers (21-11-1) built a 4-0 lead by scoring a run in the first and three in the fifth inning.
Norwich Free Academy graduate Dominic Morabito belted a one-out double and scored on Hernandez's double down the left field line for a 1-0 lead. Morabito finished with two hits and scored two runs.
In the fifth, Vance Ward reached on an error and Morabito singled with one out, bringing up Hernandez who entered the game with a .383 batting average. Hernandez delivered in the clutch once again, lining a double to left field that plated two runs. Tyler Rice's sacrifice fly increased the lead to 4-0.
"He's one of the best players in the region, if not the best," Ratchford said of Hernandez. "He just does a lot of things really well."
After that outburst, the Avery Point bats went quiet, leaving the game in the hands of the pitching staff.
Freshman Cole Forcellina and Powers finished off Monroe (25-11-1), which pushed across a run without a hit in the ninth to cut the deficit to one. Powers earned his first save.
The win puts Avery Point in the driver's seat.
"They're a good program," Ratchford said of Monroe. "They're very well coached. They have good talent. They play the game the right away and don't make mistakes. So it definitely was important for us to try to get on them early and try to get this first one."
The second game of the series is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, with the if necessary game Sunday. The schedule may be altered depending on the weather.
Freshman Keegan Daigle (5-0, 3.23), Avery Point's ace, will start game two.
"He's been lights out all year," Mach said.
