DOLLARD DES ORMEAUX, Que -- Sebastiano Scalzo of Laval, Que., hit a two-run, walk-off-the-field home run as McGill rallied from a four-run deficit to come out on top for a 7-6 victory over visiting Carleton as the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association regular season came to a dramatic end, Sunday, at Lake Road Park.

The result, combined with a 5-4 win in the first game, gave the Redmen a doubleheader sweep and a 15-1 record to win the Northern Division pennant. McGill, which has captured the CCBA national championship in each of the past two seasons, will now focus on a three-peat as they turn their focus to the upcoming divisional semifinal series against the Université de Montréal next weekend.

Scalzo, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound infielder, scorched a 1-2 fastball from Troy Clark on a line drive into the right-field bleachers, cashing in pinch-runner Rocky Hroch from second for the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Ravens had a 12-7 edge in hits and kept taking the lead, until the fateful seventh. The teams were tied at 1-1 after the first inning but Carleton added two in the third and three more in the fifth to take what seemed to be an insurmountable 6-1 lead. But the never-say-die Redmen scored one in the bottom of the fifth, three in the sixth and two more in the seventh and final inning.

Sam Groleau also had a hot bat for McGill, going 2-for-3, driving in one and scoring two runs. He homered in the first inning and singled in the fifth. Teammate Louis-Xavier Labrosse was the only other McGill player with mutiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Eric Broatch, McGill's fourth pitcher of the day, collected the win in relief. He pitched a perfect seventh, bailing out Redmen starter Adriano Petrangelo who only lasted four inings.

Ravens starter Curtis Lacelle gave up only one run in three innings but gave way to Braeden Debakker who was charged with the loss. He pitched two innings, gave up the winning run on two hits, walked one batter and struck out one.

McGill -- which set single-season school records with a .323 team batting average, 142 runs and nine homers in 16 games -- opens a best-of-three semifinal series with a doubleheader against UdeM on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Gary Carter Field in Cote St. Luc. If a rubber match is needed, it will be played at Ahuntsic Park on Sunday, Oct. 16.

 

2016 CCBA NORTHERN DIVISION STANDINGS (final)
TEAM	GP	W	L	PCTG	GBL
McGill	16	15	1	0.938	-
Concordia	16	9	7	0.563	6
Carleton	16	8	8	0.500	7
Montreal	16	5	11	0.313	10
Ottawa	16	3	13	0.188	12

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
 
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