Spring Teams Complete Maryland Weekend

All three Erie Community College spring sports were in action in Maryland during the weekend of March 24-26. While two of the sports officially kicked-off their seasons, the other completed its second major road venture.

Even though the Kats have had more success from past road excursions, the teams still brought back a combined three wins with them. And although each Kat team faced some stiff competition, none of those recently completed games were against Region III opponents. In addition, in every instance there was some bright spots that each team can take from its Maryland competitors as they all prepare for their opening home contests.

There's no place like home, probably couldn't come fast enough for the Kats baseball team after they finished their 17th-consecutive game away from their home field. They secured one of the aforementioned three wins with 13-9 victory over the Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville. Legendary Kats baseball coach Joe Bauth may have had to wait eight games between career wins 905 and 906, but when No. 906 finally came it was well worth the wait with an impressive come-from-behind victory that had Erie trailing by five runs before winning by four. The win also avenged the two previous matchups against the Cardinals and puts Bauth just 94 wins from 1,000.

The Kats plated a dozen hits led by Kyle Gould, who registered a trifecta with three hits, three RBI and three runs. Alex Lopez had a pair of hits, while Eric Marriott and Kevin Koziol belted two-RBI and three-RBI home runs, respectively.

Other Kat hitters were John Seitz, Felix Garcia, Marcus Johnston, Austin Wheeler and William Arias. Mike DeLeo picked up his second win from the mound and allowed seven hits in six innings with eight strikeouts.

The baseball team started hot at 5-2 in Florida, but all the travel has taken some of the steam from the team as it has only produced one win since taking four of its first five Florida contests. The Kats have their home season-opener against Jamestown Community College, April 1, at North Campus with the first of two games starting at 1 p.m. The Kats hope to pick up four region wins this weekend against JCC, who they travel to for back-to-back double-headers, April 2. The Kats currently stand at 6-11.

The other two wins from the Maryland trip came via the softball team. The Lady Kats registered their first two wins of the season in going 2-4 in Maryland. The wins came against the Community College of Baltimore County Dundalk by 11-7 and 6-1 scores. The pair of victories were propelled by solid pitching from Olivia Anzivine and Nicole Woodward, each going the distance in securing wins for the Kats.

Although the softball team dropped a pair of games to both Anne Arundel Community College and Harford Community College, they seem well ahead of last year's pace where they didn't pick up their second win until their 13th contest.

The softball team will travel to Onondaga and Tompkins-Cortland before their home-opener, double-header against Finger Lakes, April 8, starting at 3 p.m. at North Campus.

The women's lacrosse team had the toughest challenge of the three Kat teams in Maryland this past weekend and although they couldn't pick up any wins, they did show immense progress. Each of the Kats' three oppositions already had multiple games under their belts, while Erie was just getting its season started.

In their three games against Anne Arundel, CCBC Essex and Howard, the Kats were a much more competitive team in the second half of each of those contests. Their toughest game was probably their first against the Riverhawks, where they were out-scored by six goals in the second half. After that initial first game, the margin of goals against the Knights and Dragons in the second half was just a pair in each game that included a tough undefeated 5-0 Howard team.

The lacrosse team begins region play with a road contest at Genesee Community College, March 29 at 4 p.m., and they will stay on the road for two more games before their home-opener, April 8, against Herkimer at 1 p.m. at South Campus.