Sardou's Big Day Leads Tribunes Sweep Utica JV

Michael Sardou (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili HS) plated a pair with a one-out single to highlight a seven-run seventh inning of Game 2 as Monroe Community College Baseball rallied for a doubleheader sweep (16-10/12-5) of host Utica JV on Thursday.

Sardou brought home Parker Zeiser (Victor, N.Y./Victor HS) and Evan Brock (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta HS) as the Tribunes (16-10) won for the fifth time in six games.

Sardou finished 3-for-3 with a walk in Game 2 to cap an afternoon in which the first-year infielder reached base in all nine plate appearances he made.

Sardou singled in his only at-bat and drew four walks in Game 1.

"I don't know if I've ever had a guy get on base nine straight times," said MCC head coach Dave Brust. "That's hard to do. That was exciting for Michael. He's starting to blossom."

Braedon Reina (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili HS) capped the inning with a two-run single of his own.

The sweep came three days after MCC let an 8-7 lead in the sixth inning slip away against Genesee CC.

"Any time there's a hard loss in a game that was a bit sloppy, there are lessons to be learned, there are things to reassess," Brust said. "The next day we had good conversations about the things we need to clean up. And they needed reminders about the reminders. That was an opportunity to get refocused on the things that need attention."

Carter Higgins (Truro, Nova Scotia/Cobequid Educational Centre) and Miguel Matos (Rochester, N.Y./East High) started the decisive rally with back-to-back one-out singles. Brock, Zeiser and Paul Fiene (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem HS North) followed with consecutive walks to give Monroe a lead it did not surrender.

Brennan Hileman (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier HS) struck out five over two and a third innings of relief to pick up the win. The right-hander allowed one run on three hits and a walk. Chuckie Sobaszek (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta) started and fanned seven over 4.2 innings of work.

Higgins went 2-5 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored in the nightcap. Matos was 2-3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. Reina singled, walked and scored twice. Fiene walked twice and scored once. Zeise doubled, walked, drove in a run and scored another.

Brock and Zeiser had three hits apiece in the opener. The duo both had a pair of hits in the third inning when MCC sent 16 to the plate and scored 12 runs. Zeiser drove in two with singles, and Brock capped the outburst with his third home run of the season - a two-out, two-run shot.

Zeiser went 3-3 with two RBI and three runs scored in the 16-10 win. Brock was 3-3 with three RBI and four runs. Matos doubled and drove in three as part of a 2-3 effort that saw him cross home twice. Reina singled, walked twice and scored twice.

Jackson Hubbard (Sayre, PA/Sayre HS) allowed one run on two hits and three walks over three and a third innings to pick up the win. The right-hander struck out six.

Tobey Wright (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta HS) had two hits in four at-bats with a walk and a run scored. Fiene walked, scored and drove in two. Jack Duggan (Georgetown, ON/Georgetown District) singled, drove in two and scored a run.

The doubleheader starts a stretch in which the Tribunes will play seven twin bills before squaring off with UConn-Avery Point in the NJCAA Division II East District qualifier on May 9th. That matchup will be a best-two-of-three series played at Tribune Field.

"These next three weeks are going to be rough," Brust said. "I would be foolish to think it's going to be easy. And even more foolish to think this is not going to have some tougher bumps."