Bel Air, MD – The Mustangs played Greenville, NC-based Pitt Community College on Friday afternoon in their first game of the District Championship in Bel Air, Maryland. It's a double-elimination tournament, and they play again on Saturday, May 21, at 11:00 AM against the not-yet-determined winner of Friday evening game between Spartanburg Methodist and Harford Community College.
 
The top of the first inning against Pitt Community offered a glimpse of the missed opportunities that were to come, as the ball that Alex De La Cruz ripped down the third-base line and should have given him a solid opportunity for more than a single instead hit the umpire, and stayed in the infield, stranding him at first. At the bottom of the same inning, with a runner on first and no outs, the Pitt batter tried to sacrifice the base-runner along, but Monroe College starter Tony Hernandez fielded the bunt and threw it to second. Pitt's runner just beat the throw. Later in the inning, the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Trent Wynn. 
 
That blemish would be the only hiccup for Hernandez, as the southpaw and Pitt starter, J.D. Cook, were engaged in a pitcher's duel. In fact, Hernandez retired eight straight following the RBI single and didn't allow another hit until a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth that landed in front of a diving Michael Rodriguez. 
 
Monroe threatened in the fourth. Isaiah Torres led off with a four-pitch walk. De La Cruz followed with his second hit of the game, another infield single. But the next three batters were retired on a fly out followed by two strike-outs, enabling Pitt to maintain its 1-0 lead.
 
Pitt came alive in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Wynn picked up his second hit of the game, a single through the right side. From there, an aggressive Ramger Iglesias turned a potential sacrifice bunt into a fielder's choice, as he fielded the ball, rotated, and tossed to Endy Villalona to get the lead runner at third. Monroe escaped trouble on the next play, as Pitt's batter laced a liner that De La Cruz caught near second. He quickly flipped to Villalona on the bag for the double play. Hernandez got out of the jam again.
 
The Monroe bats came to life again in the fifth. With one out, Ronald Jackson took the first pitch, sending it off the wall in left-center for a double. Jackson moved to third on a ground out but was stranded there.
 
The Mustangs had runners in scoring position for two straight innings, but still trailed 1-0 in the fifth inning. Pitt would add a run on a Monroe miscue. The ninth-hitter, Cam Snow, put a ball in the gap for a double. The next batter, Andrew Henrickson, hit a grounder to second that De La Cruz threw away for an error. Snow scored on the miscue and the unearned tally made the score 2-0, Bulldogs.
 
The Mustangs got a run again in the sixth as Torres led off with a grounder up the middle for a base hit. Two batters later, Villalona hit a hard grounder to short that was misplayed for an error. Both runners were safe on first and second for home-run leader Cam Crabbe.
 
Crabbe laced a line drive into the left-field corner to score De La Cruz and move Villalona to third. The Mustangs were on the board, but trailing 2-1. Lewis Gonzalez followed with a base hit through the left side for an RBI that drove in Villalona and moved Crabbe to third. Gonzalez moved to second on the throw home. The game was tied at 2-2.
 
John Russo followed with a clutch line drive that fell into left field for a 2-RBI single that plated Crabbe and Gonzalez. Monroe led 4-2 at this point with four runs tallied in the inning. From there, Jackson put a single to right, the fourth straight hit of the inning. Runners were on first and second with one out at this point.  Two batters later, Iglesias hit a single that was misplayed by the outfielder that saw the ball go to the wall. Russo and Jackson scored, while Iglesias was thrown out at home after hustling around the bases. Monroe got six runs in the inning and took a 6-2 lead.
 
Pitt bounced back in the top of the sixth as Wynn got this third hit, a triple to right. The relay throw back into the infield was inaccurate and Wynn scored on the play. Monroe was still ahead, 6-3. Greg White followed with a single that was misplayed by Crabbe for another error. White got to third. The next batter was hit by Hernandez and the Bulldogs had runners on the corners and down by three runs.
 
The Mustangs defense came through from there, when Hernandez uncorked a wild pitch, but Russo hustled and tossed the ball to Hernandez to nab Pitt's batter at the plate. Pitt's runner on first then took second.  Their next batter walked and Pitt brought the tying run to the plate. Their next batter came through with a single to load the bases with one out. Next came a ball into the hole at short where Villalona dove, got the ball and got the force out at third. The run scored to make the score 6-4 with two outs and Monroe holding its lead. Hernandez hit the next batter to load the bases and put the tying run on second base. However, he got the last out on a fly ball to center and the Mustangs took a 6-4 advantage into the seventh.
 
In the seventh, De La Cruz collected his third hit of the game. Villalona reached on a fielder's choice that moved De La Cruz to second. With Crabbe up, a pickoff to first was unsuccessful and De La Cruz stole third. From there, the second baseman scored on a passed ball and the Mustangs led 7-4.
 
Oliver Mailloux took the mound in the seventh looking to preserve the lead. A pair of singles produced a run and Pitt trailed 7-5 after seven innings.
 
The Mustangs got a key insurance run in the eighth. Jackson laced his second double of the game to right. He moved to third on a ground out and scored on an infield single from Iglesias. Monroe led 8-5. In the bottom of the eighth, a pinch-hit home run for the Pitt Bulldogs made the score 8-7 after a leadoff double.  
 
De La Cruz earned his fourth hit of the game in the top of the ninth with a leadoff double down the line in right. He would be stranded at second as the game went to the bottom of the ninth with the Mustangs ahead, 8-7.
 
Mailloux retired the Bulldogs in order in the ninth to earn the save as Monroe held on for the 8-7 win. The Mustangs slugged 13 hits in the game and eight out of nine batters collected at least one hit. The come-from-behind-win by Monroe marked the tenth time this season the team rebounded from trailing at some point in the game. Hernandez earned the victory and improved to 10-1 on the season.
 
With the triumph, Monroe moves into the winner's bracket for the Eastern District Championship series. They next play on Saturday, May 21, at 11:00 AM against the winner of the Spartanburg/Harford matchup.