Nassau Community College baseball used a relentless offensive attack to defeat Rockland Community College 16-2 on Thursday, overcoming a late push from the Hawks with a decisive eighth-inning surge.
How It Happened
Rockland opened the game with three scoreless innings, but Nassau struck first in the bottom of the second. The Lions capitalized on walks and aggressive baserunning, with Ryan Jazylo and Cian Cantwell helping spark a two-run inning to take an early 2-0 lead.
Nassau added to the lead in the third inning, as Nick Simone and Daniel Reynolds delivered key hits to bring in two more runs and extend the advantage to 4-0.
Rockland began to chip away in the middle innings, scoring once in the fourth and again in the fifth before adding two more in the sixth to close the gap to 5-4. Nassau responded in the fifth, plating three runs behind timely hitting from Alex Darzano and Zaim Deljanin to push the lead back to 8-4.
The Lions continued to build momentum in the sixth and seventh innings, adding three more runs to stretch the lead to 11-4. Patrick Sebber and Simone set the table at the top of the lineup, while Reynolds drove in runs with productive at-bats.
Rockland mounted a major comeback in the eighth inning, erupting for six runs to cut the deficit to 11-10 and put pressure on Nassau late in the game.
Nassau responded immediately with its biggest inning of the game. In the bottom of the eighth, the Lions exploded for five runs, fueled by walks, stolen bases, and clutch hitting. Cantwell delivered an extra-base hit during the rally, while Deljanin and Darzano added key RBI contributions to extend the lead to 16-10.
Chris Marano came on in relief to close out the game, shutting the door in the ninth to secure the victory.
By the Numbers
- Nassau: 16 runs, 15 hits, 2 errors
- Rockland: 10 runs, 14 hits, 4 errors
- Nick Simone: 3-for-5, 2 runs, RBI, 2 stolen bases
- Daniel Reynolds: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, double
- Cian Cantwell: 3-for-4, triple, double, 2 RBI
- Zaim Deljanin: 3-for-4, 2 runs, RBI
- Alex Darzano: 2-for-4, double, RBI
- Chris Lonergan (W): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 strikeouts
- Chris Marano: 1.1 IP, 2 strikeouts, save
Up Next
Nassau will travel to Saugerties, NY to play a doubleheader against Ulster County Community College on Saturday, April 4th. The Lions return home on Saturday, April 11th with a doubleheader against Suffolk County Community College.
Stay up to date with Nassau athletics with live streams and stats at
nassaulions.com/watch. Follow the Lions on
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X at @lionsncc.
