NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., May 11, 2018 – For the fourth time in four seasons, the Monroe College baseball team claimed the NJCAA Division I Region XV Championship, sweeping the best-of-five series against ASA College with a 10-1 victory on Friday at Dick Caswell Field. With the title in hand, the Mustangs have earned the right to host the 2018 NJCAA Division I Eastern District Championship up at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. next week.
 
Joseph Encarnacion smacked a one-out single in the bottom of the second, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Troy Davern immediately followed with a triple into the right-center gap, scoring Encarnacion to give Monroe a 1-0 lead. Lenyn Napoleon then hit a grounder to short that scored Davern, and was able to reach on an errant throw by the shortstop, pushing Monroe's lead to 2-0. Kevin Garcia reached on a dropped third strike with one down to get a pair of runners on base. With two outs, Marquis Orozco grounded out through the hole on the right side, bringing Napoleon home from second to take a 3-0 advantage after two.
 
Miguel Medina roped a leadoff double off the top of the left-field fence to lead off the top of the sixth for ASA. Dilson Vasquez then singled with a grounder up the middle, scoring Medina from second to cut the deficit to 3-1. Antonio Frias worked his way out of a jam to keep the Mustangs up by a pair.
 
Kevin Garcia was hit by a curveball to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Juan Torres came in to pinch run for him, and that proved to be a great move, as Gustavo Gonzalez followed with a double down the left-field line, bringing Torres all the way around to score and give Monroe a 4-1 advantage. With two outs, Iasid Bernal singled into left-center, bringing in Gonzalez to take a 5-1 edge.
 
Encarnacion led off the seventh by reaching on an error by the catcher that left him on second base. Napoleon then singled with one away, and Torres drew a walk to load the bases. Gonzalez was then hit by a pitch, bringing in the sixth Mustang run of the day. Orozco then grounded out to first, bringing in another run to make it a 7-1 game. Edwin Feliciano Jr. then ripped a single up the middle, plating another two runs to make it 9-1. Feliciano then took third on a wild pitch, and an errant throw allowed him to come home and score to push Monroe's lead to 10-1.
 
Frias went 6.2 innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out 15 batters, a new season-best for the Mustangs, to improve to 7-0 on the season. After walking the first two batters of the day, Frias rebounded with a vengeance, striking out the next nine batters. ASA starter Blaylor Galice took the loss to fall to 3-3.
 
Gonzalez batted 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a double to help lift Monroe to the championship victory on Friday. Feliciano and Orozco both hit 1-for-5 with two RBIs, with Feliciano also scoring a run. Davern went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a run scored. Napoleon finished 1-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Bernal batted 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Encarnacion hit 1-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
The Mustangs will host this year's Eastern District Championship Tournament from Wednesday, May 16, to Friday, May 18, at Dutchess Stadium. They will serve as the tournament's top seed, while ASA will also play as one of the four teams competing in the tournament. They will both be joined by Region X champion USC Sumter, as well as the yet-to-be-determined Region XX Champion. The Eastern District Championship will be a double-elimination tournament.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level as of the fall of 2017.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).