Cecil College baseball kept their NJCAA Region XX DII tournament hopes alive after two convincing wins over the Skipjacks of Chesapeake College on Tuesday. The Seahawks defeated the Skipjacks 9-4 in the first game of the afternoon's double-header and followed up with a 6-2 win in game two. The Seahawks improved their overall record to 6-26-1 overall, 5-16 in MD JUCO action, and 5-14 against region division opponents and will need to land within the top eight teams in Region XX DII, out of 11 programs, to be admitted into the tournament hosted by Frederick Community College.
Sophomore pitcher Zachary Strong started in game one and received the win after letting up four runs on six hits in 3.1 innings pitched. Freshman pitcher Paul Layton entered the game in relief in the bottom of the 4th inning with a 5-2 lead and one out to successfully complete. Paul dished out a scoreless outing, gave up four hits, and struck out three batters.
Hector Laguer and Jaily Paredes each recorded two hits on five at-bats for a combined three RBI's in game one, followed by hits from teammates' Andrew Imbierowicz, Joseph Munoz, Kipp Hillson, and Tyler Robinson.
Sophomore pitcher Jaily Paredes started on the mound in game two, and threw arguably the most impressive outing of his career. Paredes threw a complete game while giving up only two hits and striking out a career-high 14 batters. Paredes faced 28 batters in seven innings, throwing 23 strikes and 14 balls.
The Seahawks scored the first run of the game with an RBI-single from Shawn Dulin and remained scoreless until their 5-run fifth inning that sealed the second victory of the day.
Shawn Dulin and Jaily Paredes each went two-for-four in hitting followed by Joseph Munoz with the Seahawks' only additional hit. Andrew Imbierowicz was walked three times and crossed the plate twice.
Paredes currently leads the team with a .333 AVG, 24 RBI's, and seven home runs on the year followed by Hector Laguer who is batting .324 and leads the team in total hits with 36.
Cecil College baseball returns to action in an important conference and NJCAA Region XX DII match-up when they host the Knights of CCBC Essex on Thursday, April 25. First pitch is schedule for 3:30 p.m. at Brockell Field.