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MCLA Tennis Edged in MASCAC Semis
12:03AM / Sunday, April 28, 2019
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JOHNSON, Vt. -- The MCLA mixed tennis team faced SUNY Delhi Saturday afternoon in the North Atlantic Conference semifinal round.
 
The Trailblazers dropped a heart breaking 5-4 decision to the Broncos, who advance to the NAC championships against Thomas.
 
MCLA, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, ends its season at 6-5. Delhi, which entered the tournament as the #3 seed, improves to 5-7.
 
The semifinal was a rematch from ten days ago when the Trailblazers defeated the Broncos 5-4 on their home court. This match was just as close and could have gone either way.
 
MCLA found itself down 2-1 after doubles as Briana Higgins and Mackenna Jordan earned a point in the third doubles slot.
 
The Trailblazers knew they needed to rally and that's just what they did in singles play. Delhi's Chris Balogh and Payton Dean each collected wins at the second and third singles slots to build the lead to 4-1 and move the Broncos just one point away from advancing.
 
MCLA's Cal Najimy, who was just named All NAC on Friday, defeated Marcos Andrino in three sets for the Trailblazers second point. Sam Gawron then easily earned a point in the fourth slot and when Mohamed Mahrous defeated Bailey Lane in the fifth singles slot, it was tied up at 4-4.
 
The match came down to the sixth singles slot with MCLA's Higgins matched up with Jake Robinson of Delhi. They split the first two sets by 6-2 scores, but Robinson ultimately earned the point with a 6-1 third set victory and clinching a spot in the finals for the Broncos.
 
The match ends a winning season for MCLA and first-year head coach Derek Shell.
 
Women's Lacrosse
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The MCLA women's lacrosse team fell to Bridgewater State, 17-2.
 
The Trailblazers finish the season at 1-11 overall and were 0-7 in the conference. The Bears improved to 12-4 and will finish up at 6-1 in the conference.
 
Bridgewater left little doubt in this one as they led 10-0 at the half. Elizabeth Ettridge scored three times in the opening half of play to pace the Bears. In total, eight different Bears tallied a goal in the first half.
 
MCLA's Zoe Elwell took the loss stopping 13 shots in the contest.  Sarah Tomkiewicz (Hoosac Valley) and Kim Granito scored the only goals for the Trailblazers.
 
The game marked the final one in a Trailblazer uniform for Elwell, Brianna Morris, and Ciera Dowling (BArT).
 
Baseball
SALEM, Mass. -- The Salem State University baseball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit in game one as they pulled out a 3-2 eight-inning win over MCLA this afternoon on the SSU campus.
 
The Vikings completed the twinbill sweep with a 5-1 win in the nightcap.
 
In the opening game, both starting pitchers threw well as MCLA's Bobby New (Pittsfield) was locked up with SSU's Andrew McLaughlin. The game was scoreless through four innings before MCLA (9-24, 2-14 MASCAC) finally broke the ice in the fifth.
 
The Trailblazers started the scoring on Taconic grad Austin Rachiele's RBI single which scored Dillon Maxon for a 1-0 advantage. New shut down the Vikings in the home fifth and then MCLA added another tally in the sixth.
 
Jeff Bink's single brought around Diego Rivera who had doubled, to increase the lead to 2-0. The game remained that way until the seventh inning.
 
New couldn't close out the Vikings as the first two runners reached base. A failed bunt attempt led to the first out, but Madoc Fisher's RBI single to center made it 2-1 in favor of MCLA, but more importantly put runners at the corners with just one out.
 
Christian Burt lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Traverse Briana tying the game up at 2-2 and sending it to extras. McLaughlin tossed a scoreless eighth and the Vikings (15-16, 9-8) pushed across the game winner in the bottom half.
 
With one out, Shawn Robello singled and Brendan Greene walked to put runners on first and second.  An infield single by Briana loaded the bases and set the stage for Kyle O'Connor.  He lofted a New pitch well into center field for a sacrifice fly and the Vikings walked off with the win.
 
Briana and O'Connor each had a pair of hits to pace the Vikings eight hit attack in the win. McLaughlin improved to 7-0 on the season as he went the distance. He allowed just six hits and struck out six Trailblazers.
 
Rachiele had a pair of hits to lead MCLA. New absorbed the loss as he dropped to 4-5 on the season. He struck out four Vikings in defeat.
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