American East Conference

Hartford Wins First #AEBASE Championship

5/26/2018 4:24:05 PM

Orono, Maine – For the first time in program history, the Hartford Hawks are champions of America East baseball. The Hawks entered the #AEBASE Championship as the top seed and won three games, beating No. 4 Stony Brook in the championship game 9-4 on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the win, the Hawks earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship. They will play Stetson in the DeLand Regional on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3. DeLand Regional Central.
 
No. 1 Hartford 9, No. 4 Stony Brook 4
Hartford drew first blood in the bottom of the first when Ashton Bardzell hit a double down the right field line to plate Zach Ardito. John Thrasher singled and stole second in the fifth to put himself in scoring position for Player of the Year Nick Campana, who collected his first RBI of the postseason. Campana then made an impact in the field, throwing out Michael Wilson in an eventful play at the plate to end the top half of the seventh. Wilson danced around catcher Robert Carmody but Carmody recovered quickly to the other side of the plate to make the tag and keep the score at 2-0.
 
The Hawks then came up to bat and exploded with a big inning, scoring five runs. Stony Brook made several mental errors and the Hawks strung together five hits to make the score 7-0. Four Hawks drove in a run in the inning, which began with a two-run double by Ardito. The Seawolves got a pair of runs in the eighth but Ardito put the difference back at seven with another two-run double in the bottom half. Wilson hit a two-run home run in the ninth for the Seawolves but Seth Pinkerton shut the door after that, recording the final out before the Hawks stormed the field.
 
Eight Hawks recorded a hit, six scored a run and five tallied an RBI in the final game of the championship. Hartford freshman Drew DeMartino was named Most Outstanding Player of the championship. DeMartino went 3-for-4 Saturday with a pair of runs. He collectively hit 6-for-10 with three runs and four RBI in three games, including a walk-off single against No. 2 UMass Lowell on Friday.
 
DeMartino was joined by teammates Jackson Olson, Nicholas Dombkowski and Billy DeVito on the All-Championship Team. UMBC’s Zack Bright, Albany’s Dominic Savino, Maine’s Danny Casals and Chris Bec, UMass Lowell’s Ben Prada and Andrew Ryan, and Stony Brook’s Greg Marino, Chris Hamilton and Michael Wilson were also named to the team.
 
Hartford senior Sebastian DiMauro was honored with the America East baseball Elite 18 award, which is awarded to qualifying student-athletes with the highest GPA participating in the championship game. DiMauro has a 3.72 GPA in Chemistry and Biology.
 
Visit Championship Central for box scores, highlights and recaps from the entire week of the 2018 #AEBASE Championship.

About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.