BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton baseball team extended their winning streak to 17 games with a doubleheader sweep of 4th ranked Brookdale Community College on Sunday afternoon, taking game one 13-2 and game two 7-6. The victory in game one was the 200th career victory at Northampton for Head Coach
Adrian Yaguez, who is 201-123 in his 8 seasons at the helm.
GAME ONE - The Spartans put game one away early, as Tyler "Big Country" Melko hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 1st inning to give the Spartans an early 4-0 lead. Northampton tacked on 3 more runs in the 2nd as
Franklin Ramirez (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) laced a RBI single and
Angel Lopez (Santurce, PR/Perkiomen School) hit a 2-run homerun (his 10th of the season) to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead.
The offensive explosion in the first two innings was all that starter
Brendon Caraway (Riegelsville, PA/Palisades) would need, as he improved to 4-1 with 6 innings of work, 1 run allowed, 2 hits and 7 strikeouts.
Braedon Rybak (East St. Paul, CND/International (CND)) finished it off with 1 inning of work, allowing 1 run on 1 hit while fanning 2.
Lopez finished 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, Ramirez was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and
Michael Ferrara (Cresco, PA/Pocono Mt. East) was 1 for 4 with 2 RBI to lead the Spartans.
GAME TWO - The Jersey Blues jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the nightcap, but the Spartans responded in the 3rd inning as
Franklin Ramirez (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) blasted a 3-run homerun to tie the contest at 3-3. Brookdale added 3 runs in the 5th to take a 6-3 lead, but
Cody Herestofa (Brookhaven, PA/Sun Valley) got one run back with a solo shot to left field to make it 6-4.
Colton Hooker (Warrington, PA/Upper Moreland) then tied the game at 6-6 with a 2-run blast over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the 6th, setting the stage for the dramatic 7th inning ending.
Tied 6-6 entering the bottom of the 7th, Herestofa walked,
Zane Vargason (Milan, PA/Athens) singled and a Ramirez sacrifice bunt was misplayed, loading the bases for
Angel Lopez (Santurce, PR/Perkiomen School). Herestofa then scored the winning run on a wild pitch to Lopez, giving the Spartans their first-ever sweep of the Jersey Blues.
Liam Grande (Trappe, PA/Perkiomen Valley) got the win in relief of
Zach Conley (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury), going 2 innings, allowing no runs on 1 hit and striking out, improving his record to 2-0.
Ramirez was 1 for 4 with 3 RBI, Hooker was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI and Herestofa was 1-1 with a RBI to lead the offense for Northampton.
The sweep moves the 7th ranked Spartans to 24-3 overall and 12-0 in Region XIX.
Brookdale falls to 29-12 overall and 13-7 in Region XIX.
The Spartans will look for their 18th consecutive victory when they visit Lehigh Carbon on Tuesday at 4pm.
