NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., May 9, 2024 – The Monroe College Mustangs baseball team went unbeaten at the Region 20 Championship tournament last weekend, earning the Mustangs the right to host the 2024 NJCAA Div. I East District Baseball Championship. Monroe is set to host Region 10 Champion and No. 6-ranked Florence-Darlington Technical College in a best-of-three series beginning this Saturday, May 11, at Dick Caswell Baseball Field at Flowers Park in New Rochelle. The tournament champion will earn an automatic berth into the 2024 Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
2024 NJCAA Division I East District Baseball Championship
Hosted by Monroe College
Dick Caswell Baseball Field – Flowers Park – New Rochelle, NY
Saturday, May 11 – Sunday, May 12
Admission: Free of Charge
 
Tournament Participants
Region 20 Tournament Champion: Monroe College
Region 10 Champion: Florence-Darlington Technical College
 
Tournament Coverage
Monroe College will provide live video and live statistics for each game of the East District Championship. Play-by-play broadcaster Mike McGinnis will be on the call for Game 1 and Game 2 on Saturday.
Live Video
Live Stats
 
Tournament Schedule
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Game 1 – 12:00 PM
Game 2 – 3:00 PM or 30 minutes after Game 1 ends
 
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Game 3 – 12:00 PM (if necessary)
 
What's at Stake?
The East District Champion will earn a bid to the NJCAA Div. I JUCO World Series at Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colo. on May 25 - June 1, 2024.
 
HOW WE GOT HERE
Monroe College: 31-21-1
The Mustangs entered last weekend's Region 20 Championship tournament in Bel Air, Md., as the No. 2 seed, bookended by No. 1 Harford Community College and No. 3 WVU Potomac State College. The Mustangs went into the tournament with an 0-6 regular-season record against Harford, while their only matchups against Potomac State were rained out. Monroe also entered the tournament on a two-game losing streak, but the resilient Mustangs let that doubt fuel them to their most important run of the season with the desire to prove what they are really made of.
 
The Mustangs opened the weekend against Potomac State on Friday. A fast start saw the Catamounts score two runs in the first, but the Mustangs responded with three in their first at-bat. Another two runs for Potomac State in the second had the Catamounts up, 4-3. That changed in the fourth inning when Anthony Fernandez homered to tie the game. The Mustangs then loaded the bases for Eli-Gries Smith, who cleared the bases with a double to take a 7-4 advantage. The lead grew to 9-5 after Gilbert Gomez knocked in a run in each the fifth and seventh. Potomac State made a run in the eighth, scoring three runs to make it a one-run game, but the Mustangs held them off to pick up a 9-8 win and move on to Saturday.
 
Harford eliminated Potomac State later on Friday with a 12-2 victory, setting up the Mustangs and Fighting Owls to play a best-of-three series to determine the tournament champion. Poor weather played a role early on in the contest, as the Mustangs brought in three runs in the third without a hit, as four batters were hit by pitches and one was walked. It was much the same in the bottom of the inning, with Harford bringing in two runs on walks, eventually forcing the umpires to halt the game for about an hour.
 
After returning to play, Harford jumped ahead with two runs in the fifth, and another in the seventh to take a 5-3 advantage. The Mustangs then loaded the bases in the eighth, with a run coming in when Fraelyn Rosario Pena was hit by a pitch. Diego Urreta then came through with a two-RBI single, pushing the Mustangs ahead, 6-5. The Mustangs later had two outs in the top of the ninth when Pedro Vasquez doubled to keep the inning going. Jeremy De La Mota then provided what proved to be a crucial RBI triple to extend the lead to 7-5. Harford put runners on first and third with two outs after a single and an error. An RBI single made it a one-run game and put the tying run on third, but the Mustangs got the last batter to fly out to right to pick up a 7-6 victory and take the advantage in the tournament.
 
With the rain still coming down in Bel Air on Saturday, and more of it expected on Sunday, the final game (or two, if necessary) was pushed back to Monday. The Mustangs got an immediate jump on Harford in Game 4 of the tournament when Anthony Fernandez hit a two-run homer in the top of the first, but Harford later scored in three straight innings to take a 4-2 advantage after five. Monroe then put together a huge sixth inning. A two-RBI double by Vasquez tied the game at 4-4. Keldrin Rodriguez hit an RBI single to put the Mustangs ahead, and then a two-out triple by Gomez put Monroe up by two. Pena added one more run with an RBI single to leave the Mustangs ahead, 7-4. Harford cut the deficit back down to one with a two-run homer in the home half of the sixth.
 
Monroe came through again in the seventh with a rally that essentially put the game away. The Mustangs had the bases loaded for Vasquez, who singled into right to bring in a run for a two-run lead. Rodriguez then hit a three-RBI double, stretching the lead all the way to 11-6. That lead held until the ninth when the Mustangs added two more insurance runs on a two-run blast by Jose Fernandez, giving Monroe a seven-run cushion. Harford picked up one last run in the bottom of the ninth on an error after a stolen base, but that was the extent of the damage, as the Mustangs claimed the Region 20 Tournament Title with a 13-7 conquest over Fighting Owls.
 
Florence-Darlington: 49-9
Despite being in Region 10, in which the No. 1 team in the NJCAA, Gaston College, also competes, the Stingers were the No. 1 seed heading into the Region 10 Championship tournament at the Lexington County Baseball Stadium. The No. 6-ranked team in the NJCAA themselves, the Stingers got off to a great start in the tournament when they closed out Day 1 last Friday with an 8-1 victory over No. 4 USC Lancaster. Florence-Darlington's opener was in doubt for much of the evening, as the game went to the seventh tied up at 1-1, but the Stingers broke the tie on a bases-loaded hit-by pitch. In the eighth, Florence-Darlington erased whatever doubt was left by rallying for six runs to go up by seven, eventually closing out the 8-1 victory to advance into the winner's bracket of the tournament.
 
Weather affected the Region 10 tournament much like it did the Region 20 tournament. Florence-Darlington did not get to play again until Monday. Gaston was 2-0 in the tournament, and the highly anticipated winner's bracket matchup between the two top-ranked teams finally took place Monday afternoon after being pushed back days and then hours on Monday. In a game that was halted by weather numerous times, the Stingers used a dominant start to make sure the game was never in doubt, rolling to an 11-4 victory over the Rhinos to move on to the championship. Gaston was then upset by No. 5 USC Sumter in the final loser's bracket game late Monday evening, pitting the Stingers against the Fire Ants on Tuesday to determine the Region 10 Champion.
 
The Fire Ants quickly put two runs on the board in the top of the first, but the Stingers matched them in their first at-bat. The momentum then shifted toward Florence-Darlington in a big way when the Stingers rallied for six runs in the fourth to take an 8-2 advantage. Sumter got back within four in the top of the sixth, but another six-run inning for the Stingers in the home half of the inning had Florence-Darlington up by 10. The Stingers added two more runs in the eighth to help secure an 18-7 victory and claim the Region 10 Championship.
 
MONROE VS. FLORENCE-DARLINGTON MATCHUP HISTORY
The history between the Mustangs and Stingers dates back to 2016 when the Mustangs won the first-ever matchup between the two teams. In 18 total head-to-head matchups, the Stingers have the all-time series advantage with a 12-6 record against the Mustangs. The last time the Mustangs and Stingers matched up in the East District Championship was in 2022 in Bel Air, Md., in a dramatic matchup in which a ninth-inning comeback by the Mustangs was then erased by a walkoff home run by the Stingers. The Mustangs and Stingers played twice back in February this season down in Florence, S.C. Monroe nearly made a comeback with three runs in the final frame, falling just a run short in an 11-10 defeat. The Mustangs bounced back the next day, defeating the Stingers, 6-3, to split the 2024 season series up until this weekend's matchups in New Rochelle.
 
Both teams have made two appearances at the JUCO World Series after each team's two East District Championship wins. Florence-Darlington represented the East District back in 2017 and again in 2021, but has an 0-4 record in the JUCO World Series. The Mustangs won the East District Title in 2018 and 2019, going 1-2 in each trip to Grand Junction for a 2-4 overall record in the World Series.
 
STAT LEADERS

	Statistic
Eli Gries-Smith (.379)	Average	Rom Kellis (.412)
Eli Gries-Smith (16)	Doubles	Josh Campos (15)
Eli Gries-Smith, Anthony Fernandez (3)	Triples	TJ Anderson, Ethan Plyler (3)
Anthony Fernandez (6)	Home Runs	Rom Kellis (14)
Keldrin Rodriguez (48)	RBIs	Rom Kellis (68)
Diego Urreta (51)	Runs	Ethan Plyler (51)
Pedro Vasquez (14)	Stolen Bases	Jay Douglas (42)
Sammuel Urena (2.36)	ERA	Matthew Driver (2.45)
Brailyn Cruz (53)	Strikeouts	Aydin Palmer (62)
Daniel DiEdwards (6)	Wins	Michael Gibson, Aydin Palmer (7)
Samuel Herrera (4)	Saves	Derek Duval (5)
Monroe College	Full Team Statistics	Florence-Darlington

 
RECENT EAST DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
2023: Gaston College
2022: Harford Community College
2021: Florence-Darlington Technical College
2020: No NJCAA Postseason
2019: Monroe College
2018: Monroe College
2017: Florence-Darlington Technical College
2016: Harford Community College
2015: USC Sumter
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 20 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe College marching band, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (@MonroeMustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).