Phoenix, Ariz. -- March 16, 2010 -- John Schmaltz lined a 9th-inning single to produce the eventual winning run for the Springfield College baseball team in a 12-11 victory over Dickinson College of Pennsylvania earlier today in Arizona. The win allowed SC to even its Spring Break record at 2-2 thus far.It was a typical Spring Break see-saw type of contest, with SC scoring three runs in the top of the eighth inning to take an 11-8 lead, only to see Dickinson match that total in the bottom half of the eighth to tie it all up.
But Schmaltz, a junior outfielder from Cromwell, Conn., singled in the top of the ninth to knock home the winning run, giving SC the 12-11 lead at the time. Schmaltz had three hits to lead the Pride on the day, but three others had two hits apiece. They were sophomore catcher Karl Quist (New Preston, Conn.), senior outfielder Joe Kropa (Cranford, N.J.), and junior outfielder Peter Calandra (Camden, N.Y.).
In the bottom of the ninth, it was sophomore lefthander Adam DeFelice (Avon, Conn.) who came on to register the save. Earlier, junior righthander Mark Grant (Danbury, Conn.) pitched well in a starting role. But it was junior righthander Brian Harris (East Hartford, Conn.) who picked up the win in reliief.
On Wednesday, SC will face Macalester of Minnesota in a doubleheader in its fifth and sixth games in Arizona.
Former Springfield College standout Mark Simeone will enter his 17th season as the head baseball coach at his alma mater in 2013 . The reigning NEWMAC Coach of the year is coming off a successful 2012 campaign in which the Pride went 20-15. Read more.