MARION, N.C.— The Montreat baseball team played the Johnson University-Tennessee Royals in a pair of road Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) matchups Saturday afternoon in Marion, N.C. Across two contests at Big League Camp, the Cavaliers bagged an 8-0 win in game one and a 10-0 triumph in game two. With the two shutouts, the Cavs improved to 8-10 (5-3 AAC) on the season and secured their first doubleheader sweep via shutouts since 2015.
Johnson (2-17, 2-6 AAC) started the bottom half of the first inning with a single and a double, but despite placing two runners in scoring position with no outs, the Royals couldn't capitalize.
Daniel Willie shut down the next three JU batters to silence the rally, allowing the Montreat offense to put the visitors on top in the next half-inning.
Three Cavalier hits loaded the bases in the second, and
Elijah Baptist brought a pair of those Cavs home with the team's fourth hit of the frame. Thanks to Baptist's 2-run single to right, Montreat held a 2-0 lead over Johnson early in game one.
After Willie surrendered hits to Johnson's initial two batters of the contest, the Ooltewah, Tenn. native settled into a groove. The Montreat ace retired 15 of the next 16 hitters he faced, quieting the Royals' offense completely. Meanwhile,
Daniel Wetmore ripped a 1-out double in the sixth and came around to score on a fielding error, which pushed the visitors' lead up to 3-0.
An error, a wild pitch and a walk scored a trio of runs in the top of the eighth, and a wild pitch coupled with a
Jaider Morelos RBI double plated two more as the Cavs finished off the Royals to the tune of an 8-0 win.
Willie threw eight dominant innings, allowing just five hits while punching out 10 Royals for his third victory of the season.
Harold Aguilera pitched a scoreless frame in relief to finish out game one.
Montreat outhit JU in the opener, 12-5, with Morelos (2-6),
Caleb Abshier (2-5) and Wetmore (2-3) all tallying multiple base knocks. Wetmore also scored four runs, and
Stephen Karis drew a trio of walks in the effort.
Game two started with a scoreless initial frame, but the Cavaliers put up a pair of 3-spots in the second and third innings. In the second, Montreat utilized three hits and as many walks to take a 3-0 lead.
AJ Barrios drove in the opening run on a single to center field, and both
Cole Parker and Morelos drew bases-loaded walks to plate two more Cavs.
Montreat also notched three hits in the third to score three runs. Abshier led off the innings with a solo shot to center, while Barrios and
Jeff Cardazzone recorded back-to-back RBI singles, doubling the Cavaliers' edge out to 6-0.
Johnson put a couple of runners on base in the second and third frames, but Montreat starter
Case Jaworski pitched around the danger both times. The Highland, Mich. native's offense rewarded his resiliency as a Wetmore single to right center scored another run, bringing the Montreat lead to 7-0 midway through the contest.
With the game firmly in hand, the Cavs tacked on three more runs in the seventh to move ahead by 10.
Dylan Sayler pushed a run across with a pinch-hit RBI groundout, and
Johnny DiBenedetto drove in two more Montreat baserunners thanks to his 2-RBI single to right center.
Jaworski struck out four batters during his five scoreless innings of work on the mound, and
Joe Tomasello combined with
Rawley Stinson to throw a shutout frame each to seal the victory.
Barrios (3-4), Abshier (2-4) and Cardazzone (2-4) racked up multiple hits in game two, while Barrios (3), Morelos (2) and
Michael Bell (2) all scored at least two runs.
With the pair of shutouts, the Montreat baseball team claimed its first doubleheader sweep via shutouts since March 18, 2015 at Morris College.
"Today was a good day for us as our pitchers really held their ground," said head coach
Jason Beck, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a pair of shutout victories. "Both pitchers weren't sharp but showed some battle in them. Some of the young bats really came through in game two and picked it up as well."
Baseball wraps up its 3-game AAC set with the Johnson University-Tennessee Royals tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Big League Camp in Marion, N.C.
