Lions Even Up the Season - Week 3

by Rich Barnett

DUNDALK, MD - So, whaddya do when you split a six-game series at the Ripken Experience, leaving Myrtle Beach on the three-game win streak? You ride that momentum all the way home.

The Community College of Allegheny County-Boyce (Monroeville, Penn.) came into The Den on March 10. The Cougars scored one in the third inning and two in the fifth before the Lions answered with a run in the fifth and three in the seventh. Collin Fowble (Parkville) got the win in the 4-3 contest. Charles Lebron (Grand Street Campus | Brooklyn, N.Y.) doubled and Ivan Martinez (Clifton | Brooklyn, N.Y.) tripled. Andreas Holtzer (Good Counsel) RBId, James Moses (Loyola Blakefield) stole a base, and Arri Stakias (John Carroll) got two RBIs and a stolen base.

The next day, the Lions welcomed Delaware County Community College (Media, Penn.) for a doubleheader. The Phantoms scored three runs to start the first game, and the Lions responded with five of their own. The lead went back-and-forth over the next five innings before the Phantoms tied it up at 11 in the seventh. The Lions scored next, winning the game 12-11. Antonio Fernandez (John Bowen | Queens, N.Y.) got the win, improving to 1-1. Lebron and Bryant Gutierrez (Abraham Lincoln | Queens, N.Y.) each batted for two doubles and two RBIs. Stakias hit for a double and two RBIs. Moses and Aarron Rodriguez (Telecom, Brooklyn, N.Y.) both RBId and Moses stole a base.

Game two of the doubleheader was another back-and-forth contest through four innings. The Phantoms tied it up in the fifth before scoring three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings, winning the game 8-3. Justin Santana (Dundalk) got the loss, and Stakias hit for 3 RBIs and a SacFly.

Bad weather and less-than-optimal field conditions led to the postponement of the March 13 home game against inter-campus rival CCBC Essex. The Lions vs. Knights was rescheduled for Tuesday May 1 at CCBC Essex.

On March 15, in their fourth game in six days, the Lions hosted the Fighting Owls of Harford Community College (Bel Air, Md.). This was the Lions' first Maryland JUCO Conference game of the season. The Fighting Owls scored first in the bottom of the second inning. The Lions scored six runs and kept Harford scoreless through the rest of the game besting the Fighting Owls for the first time in four years. Winning sophomore right-handed pitcher Fernandez pitched a compete game with eight strikeouts, keeping Harford to just four hits. This outing earned him NJCAA Division II Pitcher of the Week Honors. Moses hit for a double and stole a base. Gutierrez, Rodriguez, and Zach Huddleston (Good Counsel) all RBId.

At the end of week three, the Lions are 6-6 overall and 1-0 Maryland JUCO Conference.