Northboro, MA- The snow storm did not impact the Falcons on their game day as the grounds crew at the New England Baseball Complex worked hard to get the fields cleared for this afternoon's matchup between Fisher and the Newbury Nighthawks (0-2). The Falcons entered the game hoping to snap a four-game losing streak at the hands of the University of Rio Grande Red Strom last weekend. Newbury was 0-1 entering the game, looking for their first win of the young season, and looked to do just that as they held a 5-3 lead heading into the 9th inning. The Falcons had other plans and used a nine-run 9th inning to cap the comeback to pull out a 12-5 win over Newbury and go to 14-4 on the season.
The Nighthawks jumped on the board first as they scored two runs on a pair of hits in the first inning. After Falcons starter Angel Alicea (Caguas, PR) secured the first two batters, a walk and a single put two runners on for Chris Paulino who knocked a single up the middle scoring David Center for the 1-0 lead. Alicea walked the next batter, but on ball four, a passed ball got by Reynaldo Mejia (Lawrence, MA) allowing another Newbury run to come in. But Mejia got to the ball quickly and was able to throw Paulino out at third trying to advance for the third out. The Falcons got a run back in the top of the second as Jonathan Rosado (Bayamon, PR) led off the inning with a double to left center and was plated by Mejia who singled down the right field line for his first RBI of the day and brought the Falcons back to within one. Fisher then tied it up in the top of the 4th as Rosado started the inning again with another hit, this time a single up the middle. Mejia loaded up the bases with another single for Sami Bibovic (Brooklyn, NY) who was able to knock in Rosado on a sharp grounder to the pitcher bringing the score to 2 a piece heading to the bottom of the 4th.
After two clean innings from Falcons pitcher Yamil Delgado (Caguas, PR), the Nighthawks were able to get to him in the bottom of the 4th, despite him striking out three batters in the inning. Newbury scored two runs on four hits and took a 4-2 lead into the fifth. NC grabbed another run in the 6th as Christopher Tran got on with a single to start the innning. After a pair of strikeouts from Falcons pitcher George Gali (Guayama, PR), a walk and single from Brett Cabral scored Tran and the Nighthawks went up 5-2. The Falcons threatened for multiple runs in the 7th as Ivan Rivera (Brooklyn, NY) rapped a double over the fence with Jorge Sanchez (Caguas, PR) following with a single to center, but Newbury's centerfielder Tran gunned Rivera out at home for the second out. Jacob Deziel (Merrimac, MA) knocked the next pitch to centerfield also, but another laser from Tran punched out Sanchez to end the threat, leaving the score 5-2 after seven. Fisher made it a 5-3 game in the 8th after Mitchell Lundholm (Plymouth, MA) led off the inning with a single. He moved up on the next batter as Rosado took a pitch off the body to make it runners on first and second with no outs. Lundholm then stole third to put runners on the corners for Ismael Perez (Brooklyn, NY) who was able to put a hard grounder in play to first allowing Lundholm to score easily. Wesley Lopez (Caguas, PR) pitched a clean eighth for the Falcons and they would head to the 9th down 5-3 hoping for some late inning magic.
The Falcons started the inning with back-to-back singles from Bibovic and Rivera putting runners on first and second with no outs. After a batter's interference call for an out and a Deziel walk to load the bases, Lundholm tied it up with a single to left scoring Bibovic and Rivera. Following a foul out for the second out, Fisher tallied six hits in a row, plating a total of seven more runs to take a 12-5 lead into the ninth. Lopez was able to close it out in the bottom of the ninth, allowing no hits in the frame and striking out a batter.
Reynaldo Mejia was 4 for 5 on the day with two RBI's to lead the offense, while Deziel and Rivera each collected three hits a piece in the victory. The Falcons had 20 hits as a team, including six extra base hits. Wesley Lopez earned the win for the Falcons as he pitched three innings, allowing just three hits and striking out four. The Nighthawks were led by Christopher Tran on both sides of the field as he was 3 for 4 at the plate, to go along with his outfield assists.
The Falcons will have the week off and will head on a five-team road trip, playing in three different states over that span. Their next contest will be Friday, March 8th as they take on Campbellsville in Kentucky at 3:00pm.