Box Score

MOOSIC, Pa.- The No. 2 Immaculata baseball team was not ready to see their season come to an end as they faced No. 4 Gwynedd Mercy in a Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Tournament elimination game on Friday afternoon, and they scored consistently throughout the game and came away with a 20-7 victory to eliminate the Griffins.  The Macs will play No. 3 Neumann in an elimination game on Friday night.
 
Junior Eddie Decker (7-0) set the new program record with his seventh win of the season and he was outstanding in the process, going eight innings allowing four runs, two earned, nine hits, two walks, and striking out eight.
 
Offensively, the Macs churned out 17 hits.  The top five hitters of senior centerfielder Jason McCormick, senior designated hitter Howie Kalamets, senior first baseman Ryan Tecco, junior third baseman Justin Dempsey, and senior left fielder Matt Simon combined to go 13-for 22 with 18 RBIs, three doubles, three home runs, and 15 runs scored in a dominant effort.
 
Dempsey was 4-for-5 with three runs scored, a career high five RBIs and three runs scored.  Kalamets reached base all six times with two walks, one hit by pitch, a single, a double, and a home run along with four runs scored and three RBIs.  McCormick (2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B, SB), Tecco (2 R, 3 RBI, BB), and senior right fielder Dom Ficca (R, RBI, 2B) all had two hits, and Simon was 2-for-4, with two runs scored, five RBIs, a double, and a home run.  The three home runs were a season-high in a game for the Macs this season, as were the 20 runs.
 
The Griffins got their first runner of the game on by infield single, but Decker picked him off and retired the next two hitters to keep the Griffins off the board early.
 
The Mighty Macs took the lead permanently right from the jump as Kalamets hit a towering home run over the bullpen in left-center field, his sixth of the season, to give IU the 1-0 advantage.
 
Decker immediately retired the side in order and IU went right back to work with the bats.  Simon was hit by a pitch and freshman catcher Tyler Kmiec (1-for-5, R, BB) chopped a single over the third baseman's head which allowed Simon to reach third.  After Kmiec stole second, senior shortstop Ryan Ficca (1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB) singled through the right side to increase the lead to 2-0.  After two outs and both runners moved into scoring position, McCormick blasted a two-run double off the left-center field wall and the Macs had grown their lead to 4-0.
 
The Griffins got a lead-off double on in the second, but Decker calmly retired the next three hitters in order, two of them by strikeout, to keep the lead at four.
 
In their half of the third, Dempsey singled, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and came around to score on a double down the left field line by Dom Ficca and the lead had grown to 5-0 through three innings.
 
Gwynedd Mercy had their best threat of the day in the top of the fourth as they loaded the bases with two outs, but Simon made all three putouts in left field to preserve the shutout.
 
The Macs made it four straight innings with runs as they mounted a two-out rally to put the game out of reach.  With two outs, Kalamets was hit by a pitch and Tecco singled to right field to put runners on the corners.  Dempsey then hit an RBI single down the left field line, and Simon followed with a two-run double into the left field corner to make it 8-0.
 
Decker kept the momentum going by striking out all three Griffins looking in the fifth, and retired them again in the sixth after a one out walk. 
 
After getting nothing on the board in the fifth for the first time all day, IU bounced back in the sixth.  McCormick singled to left center, stole second, and came around to score immediately on Kalamets' RBI double to left-center.  Dempsey then delivered an RBI single to right-center and the lead was up to 10-0.
 
The Griffins got the first blemish of the day against Decker with a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but the Macs exploded for their biggest inning of the day to build an insurmountable lead.
 
The Macs loaded the bases with one out on a single by Dom Ficca and walks by Ryan Ficca and McCormick.  Kalamets then walked to bring home a run, and Tecco hit a two-run single to right field to make it 13-1.  Dempsey then put an exclamation mark on the inning with a three-run home run to left, his third of the season, and the Macs held a 16-1 lead.
 
The Griffins scored three runs in the top of the eight to finish Decker's day, but IU again responded with four more runs.  They scored one on an error in right field off the bat of Tecco, and Simon finished off the offensive onslaught with a three-run home run into the bullpen in left field and the Macs led 20-4.
 
Freshman Mark Lisi made his first career appearance in the ninth and finished off the victory to keep the Macs' season alive.