Prince George's Baseball Heads To Western Pennsylvania For NJCAA Region XX Division III Tournament On Friday

LARGO, Md. – After an 11-3 win against CCAC South on Tuesday in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XX Division III Play-in Game , the Prince George's Community College baseball team advanced to the NJCAA Region XX Division III Baseball Double-Elimination Tournament starting on Friday at Westmoreland County Community College in Western Pennsylvania. The Owls will face the top-seeded Montgomery College Raptors at 1 p.m.

In the other first round game on Friday, No. 2 CCAC Boyce will battle third seed and host Westmoreland County Community College at 10 a.m. The winners of the Prince-George's-Montgomery and CCAC Boyce Westmoreland County will face each other on Saturday at 11 a.m. while the two losing teams will battle in an elimination game on Friday at 4 p.m.

In the last four years, the Largo program has faced Montgomery in the region tournament in each season and the two teams have split the series in that stretch at three games apiece. Prince George's defeated the Raptors twice last season to claim its second title in the last four years. The Owls, who did not face Westmoreland County last season in the region tournament, is 5-1 against the Wolfpack in the last four years in the postseason while Prince George's has not faced CCAC South in this stretch.

Freshman Josh Pietrandrea (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) leads the team with a .404 batting average with 40 hits, 32 runs scored, seven doubles, two triples, six homers and 33 RBIs. Sophomore Brandon Crosby (Richmond, Va./Atlee, Mechanicsville) is second on the team with a .376 batting average with 32 hits, 25 runs scored, four doubles, a triple, five homers, 21 RBIs and a team-best 15 stolen bases. Sophomore Bay To (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) leads the team with seven home runs and ranks second on the team in runs (33), RBIs (29) and triples (3) and third in hits (37). Sophomore Austin Adams (Atlanta, Ga./Whitewater) fuels the team in runs scored (40) and ranks second in stolen bases (13) and doubles (8) and fourth in hits (36). Freshman Tommy Petrosino Jr (Bayonne, N.J./St. Anthony's) paces the team in hits (42) and freshman Vinny Rotundo (New York, N.Y./Middletown) has a team-best 10 doubles.

Freshman Clark Reese (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), who tossed six innings and earned the win against the Tigers on Tuesday to send the Owls to the double-elimination tournament, leads the team in wins (5), strikeouts (54) and innings pitched (50.1). Freshman Keaton Bradley (Bahama, N.C./Northern Durham) leads the team with a 3.25 ERA while ranking second in strikeouts (41), wins (3) and innings pitched (36.0). Freshmen Anthony Cavalier (Sarasota, Fla./Braden River) and Dominic Marquez (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan) rank third and fourth on the staff statistically. Both pitchers have two wins while Cavalier is third in innings (32.1) and strikeouts (23) and Marquez is right behind Cavalier in innings (31.2) and strikeouts (22).

Prince George's lost 11-4 and 12-10 at Montgomery College on March 31 in Germantown, Md. Pietrandrea paced the Owls with three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Petrosino added four hits and an RBI while freshman Steven Fondeur  (Hollywood, Fla./South Broward) hit a pinch hit three-run homer in the nightcap and sophomore Jake Brewer (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City Melvin Sibley) went 2-for-2 with a two-run double in the opener.

The Owls split the season series with CCAC Boyce with each team taking a 2-1 decision on Mar. 11 in Largo. Bradley allowed one run on six hits in a seven-inning complete game with 12 strikeouts. Adams scored two runs on the afternoon for Prince George's while Pietrandrea posted a hit and an RBI and Crosby registered a hit and a run scored. Petrosino notched three hits on the day, and freshman Tyrone Miller Jr (Miami, Fla./Norland) was the hard-luck loser in the second game after along two runs (one earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts.

In the two-game set against Westmoreland County, the Owls nearly rallied for a comeback win in the opener before falling 11-10 and then took the nightcap 9-1 in Youngblood, Pa., on Apr. 29. Reese allowed one unearned run on four hits with 11 strikeouts in a seven-inning complete-game effort. To went 3-for-4 in the second game with two runs scored including a steal of home in the second game after going 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs in the opener. Freshman Pedro Montero (LaRomana, Dominican Republic/Colegio Nueva) posted a 3-for-7 performance on the day with five RBIs and two runs scored while Rotundo combined for four hits, three runs scored and three RBIs in the victory.

Prince George's will be looking for its second-straight NJCAA Region XX Division III Tournament title and third overall under head coach Buddy Foster. The Owls also won the crown in 2014 and 2017. Adams, Crosby, To and sophomore Naquan Holden (Brooklyn, N.Y./Perkiomen) are looking to win their second title after being a member of last year's title squad. Crosby and To were both named to the NJCAA Region XX Division III All-Tournament team last season.

The squad is looking for its fifth region title in program history after winning the title in 1978 and 1979 under Donald "Cap" Redmiles, who is being inducted into the Prince George's Community College Inaugural Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame on May 15.