Prince George's Baseball Heads To The Sunshine State For Six Games This Week

2018 RUSSMATT CENTRAL FLORIDA INVITATIONAL

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Prince George's (4-1) vs. Herkimer (2-0), 9:30 a.m.
Prince George's (4-1) vs. Oakton (2-1), 4:00 p.m.
Lake Myrtle Park Field 3 | Auburndale, Fla.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Prince George's (4-1) vs. Rowan College Gloucester County (5-1), 9:30 a.m.
Prince George's (4-1) vs. Niagara County (0-0), 3:30 p.m.
Chain of Lakes Park Field 1 | Winter Haven, Fla. 

Thursday, March 15, 2018
Prince George's (4-1) vs. Northern Essex (4-2), 10 a.m.
Prince George's (4-1) vs. River Rainy (0-0), 4 p.m.
Pat Thomas Field | Leesburg, Fla.

PRINCE GEORGE'S: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS

opening pitch… After dealing with weather issues for the last week that only allowed Sunday's doubleheader to be played, Prince George's heads to the Sunshine State for six games against some tough NJCAA Division III competition. The Owls will open its trip at the Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, Fla., on Tuesday against Herkimer and Oakton. The squad will then move to Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven to battle Niagara County and Rowan College of Gloucester County, two teams that were in the NJCAA Division III World Series last year, on Wednesday. The Largo team then wraps up its time in the Florida sun on the diamond at the Pat Thomas Field in Leesburg, Fla., against Northern Essex and Rainy River on Thursday.

last time out… Keaton Bradley struck out 12 batters and won a 2-1 pitcher's duel against CCAC Boyce in on Sunday. CCAC Boyce earned a 2-1 win in the nightcap. Bradley allowed one run on six hits in a seven-inning complete game with 12 strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. After striking out eight of the first nine batters, Bradley allowed a run in the fourth to cut the Owls lead to 2-1. The freshman then stranded a runner at third with a strikeout in the fifth, recorded three straight outs in the sixth after a leadoff single and then ended the game with a strikeout and fly out in the seventh with a runner on second base to secure the victory. Austin Adams scored two runs on the afternoon for Prince George's while Josh Pietrandrea posted a hit and an RBI and Brandon Crosby  registered a hit and a run scored. Tommy Petrosino Jr notched three hits on the day, and Tyrone Miller Jr was the hard-luck loser in the second game after along two runs (one earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts.

next time on the diamond… Prince George's returns home for a four-team, six-game homestand, starting with Allegany College of Maryland on March 17. CCBC Dundalk (Mar. 20), Southern Maryland (Mar. 22) and Anne Arundel (Mar. 27) will also visit the baseball field in this stretch.

mother nature always wins… The weather has caused postponements of road games against CCBC Essex, Harford, CCBC Catonsville and Garrett. The Garrett doubleheader will now be played on Apr. 22.

the long ball… Freshman Josh Pietrandrea smacked two homers in his first collegiate game against SUNY Orange on Feb. 24. Freshman Dylan Irizarry notched his first career homer against Howard University Club on Mar. 3.

extra base hits… Freshman Dominic Marquez leads the team with five doubles while freshman Vinny Rotundo is second with four two-baggers. Austin Adams, Dylan Irizarry, Josh Pietrandrea, O'Neal Torche and Sutton Young all have two doubles while Anthony Cavalier, Tommy Petrosino Jr and Clark Reese each have one double. Adams and sophomore Bay To, Petrosino, Pietrandrea and freshman Abdul Mateen Bradley each have a triple.

wins on the mound... Freshmen Keaton Bradley has two wins while, Anthony Cavalier and Clark Reese have each posted a win this season on top of the hill for the Owls.

punchouts... Freshman Keaton Bradley leads the team with 15 strikeouts while freshmenClark Reese is second with 10 strikeouts. Freshman Tyrone Miller Jr has eight punchouts, freshman Anthony Cavalier has seven strikeouts and freshmen Dominic Marquez and Chase Perreault each have four Ks this season.

receiving points in poll… The Owls finished just outside the NJCAA Division III Poll in the first week of the poll. The squad posted 14 points to sit as the highest team not in the Top 10.

preseason nationally ranked… Prince George's Community College baseball team was ranked 10th in the NJCAA Preseason Poll. The defending national champion Tyler Junior College, who defeated Prince George's in the opening game of the 2017 NJCAA Division III World Series, is the preseason favorite after receiving 60 points. Niagara County (52 points), Cumberland County (49 points), Northampton (38 points), Century (35 points), St. Cloud Tech (29 points), Rowan Gloucester (23 points), Brookhaven (16 points), Delta (13 points) and Prince George's (8 points) rounded out the poll. The Owls were ranked in six of the final seven national polls last season.

tuff enough… Along with the usually tough Maryland JUCO schedule, the Owls have two teams on their schedule that are ranked in the preseason and were at the NJCAA Division III College World Series last season. The squad will battle Niagara County Community College (No. 2 in preseason poll) and Rowan College at Gloucester County (No. 7 in preseason poll) on Mar. 14 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

a year to remember… Prince George's is coming off one its best seasons in program history after winning the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament and NJCAA District D Tournament titles to clinch its second trip to the NJCAA World Series in the last four years. Along with head coach Buddy Foster and assistant coach Jimmy Williams, sophomore Austin Adams, Brandon Crosby, Naquan Holden and Bay To are the only returners from last year's championship run.

all-american returner… Sophomore Brandon Crosby returns after being named an NJCAA All-America first team selection last year. Crosby paced the team in hits (81), runs (71), stolen bases (45), batting average (.440) and on-base percentage (.527) while ranking third in RBIs (49), third in doubles (17), third in triples (2) and fourth in slugging percentage (.620). The freshman paced NJCAA Division III in steals and ranked fourth in stolen bases for all NJCAA divisions while also ranking eighth in Division III in runs. He posted a hit in 42 of the 49 games played, including 13 two-hit games and 12 three-hit performances. Crosby scored two or more runs 19 times and registered two or more stolen bases in 13 games. Crosby was also named an All-Maryland JUCO first team, All-NJCAA Division III Region XX first team and to the NJCAA Division III Region XX All-Tournament team.

other honors returning… Along with Brandon Crosby, sophomore Bay To returns after garnering All-NJCAA Division III Region XX first team honors and a spot on the NJCAA Division III All-Tournament team. Head coach Buddy Foster was named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Diamond National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III District D Regional Coach Of The Year.

the roster… Head coach Buddy Foster has added 15 newcomers to his team in 2018 while returning four players from last year's team. Keaton Bradley, Mateen Bradley, Jake Brewer, Anthony Cavalier, Dylan Irizarry, Dominic Marquez, Tyrone Miller Jr, Alexander Montero, Chase Perreault, Tommy Petrosino Jr, Josh Pietrandrea, Clark Reese, Vinny Rotundo, O'Neal Torcheand Sutton Young.

about the coach… Head coach Buddy Foster enters his seventh season as the head coach of the baseball team. Foster has been at Prince George's since the 2009 campaign after serving as the squad's pitching coach for three seasons before being elevated to the head coach position. He guided the 2014 and 2017 Owls to the NJCAA Region XX Division III title and advanced to the NJCAA Division III World Series. Foster won his 100th game in the NJCAA District D Championship in 2017 and was named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Diamond National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III District D Regional Coach Of The Year in 2014 and 2017.

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