Game One Box / Game Two Box

PURCHASE, NY – The Colonels put together a rally in game one to defeat Manhattanville College 5-3 but unfortunately found themselves on the other end of a comeback as they lost a 6-2 lead in game two as Wilkes University fell to the Valiants 9-7 in a Freedom Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon in New York.

With the Colonels split and the King's College sweep of Delaware Valley College today, Wilkes loses out to the Monarchs for the final spot in the conference tournament to be held this coming weekend. The Colonels finish with an 11-10 Freedom mark while King's owns a half game lead with an 11-9-1 record.

The Colonels got off to a good start in the opener, getting a run in each of the first two innings with an RBI single off the bat of Tay Sidler (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville Area) in the first while Tyler Marino (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Meyers) scored on an error in the second.

Zach Lazar (Berwick, PA/Berwick Area) started on the hill for Wilkes, allowing just one hit over the first three innings before the Valiants got to him in the fourth, scoring three runs on four hits to tie it a 3-3 after four.

Wilkes took the lead in the following inning when Matt Ruch (Dallas, PA/Holy Redeemer)'s fly out to center advanced Tom Plessl (Schnecksville, PA/Parkland) to third, with a throwing error by the center fielder bringing him home.

Rich Cosgrove (Wilkes-Barre/Meyers)'s blast to left to lead off the seventh gave the Colonels a 5-3 lead as Lazar gave up three hits over the final three innings, allowing no runs to pick up the complete game win. He finished with five strikeouts, scattering eight hits.

Game two looked sloppy as three first inning errors by the Valiants helped the Colonels get one run on the board. Manhattanville rebounded, picking up a run of its own to tie the score at 1-1.

More errors by Manhattanville came in the third, as the Colonels took advantage with two more hits and four runs to take a 5-1 lead. Angus Neary (Old Forge/Riverside)'s RBI double was the big hit in the inning.

After the Valiants got one back in the bottom half, Wilkes went back up on top by four when Joel Watson (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale) flied out to center, bringing home Sidler on the sacrifice.

The Valiants then responded with a huge fifth, taking advantage of a Wilkes error and adding three hits, including an RBI triple, to score five runs and take a 7-6 lead into the sixth.

They'd pick up two more runs in the sixth, before allowing just one Colonels player to cross the plate in the seventh to secure the win.

Starter Al Clocker (Swoyersville/Wyoming Valley West) went five innings, striking out six and allowing five earned runs on six hits while Sean Flecknoe (Wilkes-Barre, PA/G.A.R.) picked up the loss in relief for the Colonels.

Neary and Marino each collected four hits on the day for the Colonels, with Neary adding a pair of RBI.

The Colonels (18-15) will finish off their regular season this week with road doubleheaders at Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Sunday and the University of Scranton on Tuesday.