Prince George's Baseball Heads To North Carolina For NJCAA Division III District D Championships

LARGO, Md. – The Prince George's Community College baseball team continues its quest for a return trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III World Series at the NJCAA Division III District D Championships in Wentworth, N.C., on Friday and Saturday. The Owls will face Rockingham County Community College in a best-of-three series with the winner advancing to the NJCAA Division III World Series.

Games are scheduled for 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday, but weather may force changes to the schedule. Stay tuned to www.pgccowls.com and @PGCCOWLS on Twitter for game updates throughout the championships.

Prince George's advanced to the NJCAA Division III District D Championships for the second-straight season after defeating No. 5 CCAC South 11-3 in seven innings on May 8, top-seed Montgomery College 10-0 in eight innings on May 11, No. 3 Westmoreland County Community College 10-8 on May 12 and Montgomery 8-2 on Sunday in the championship game. Last year, the Owls defeated Surry Community College in a best-of-three series with wins of 12-9 and 11-9 in the first and third games.

The Largo team looks to head back to the NJCAA Division III World Series in back-to-back seasons and third time in the last five years under head coach Buddy Foster. Prince George's also participated in the World Series in 2014 under Foster.

Freshman Josh Pietrandrea (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) leads the team with a .407 batting average with 46 hits, 37 runs scored, seven doubles, two triples, seven homers and 38 RBIs. Freshman Vinny Rotundo (New York, N.Y./Middletown) ranks second on the squad with a .378 batting average with 31 hits, 23 runs scored, a team-leading 11 doubles, a homer and 26 RBIs. Sophomore Bay To (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) leads the team with eight home runs and ranks second on the team RBIs (31) and triples (3), third in hits (41) and fourth in runs (33). Sophomore Austin Adams (Atlanta, Ga./Whitewater) fuels the team in runs scored (44) and ranks second in stolen bases (14) and doubles (10) and third in hits (43). Freshman Tommy Petrosino Jr (Bayonne, N.J./St. Anthony's) paces the team in hits (47) and sophomore Brandon Crosby (Richmond, Va./Atlee, Mechanicsville) has a team-best 15 stolen bases.

Freshman hurlers Keaton Bradley (Bahama, N.C./Northern Durham), Dominic Marquez (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan) and Clark Reese (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) each pitched a big game to lead the Owls to the region title. Reese pitched six strong innings against CCAC South in the play-in game on May 8 while Bradley tossed the final frame against the Tigers and then tossed six shutout innings in the opening game against Montgomery. Marquez pitched two shutout innings against the Raptors in the first game and then tossed a nine-inning complete game and allowed two runs against Montgomery in the championship game. Marquez totaled 11 innings in a three-day period for the Largo team.

Reese leads the team with a 5-4 record and 63 strikeouts in 63.1 innings pitched. Bradley is 4-4 with 48 strikeouts and a 2.79 ERA in 42.0 innings pitched while Marquez is 3-4 with 30 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched.

Rockingham County (21-18-1) advanced to the NJCAA Division III District D Championship after winning the NJCAA Division III Region X title. Rockingham County defeating No. 3 Danville 14-6 on May 11, No. 1 Surry 14-9 on May 12 and Surry 11-10 on May 13 in the championship game. The Eagles as a team are batting .293 with 349 hits, 292 runs, 53 doubles, 17 triples, eight homers, 246 RBIs and 72 stolen bases. Prince George's will probably see right-hander Walker Joyce on the mound, who leads the team with a 7-3 record, 75 strikeouts and 1.63 ERA in 71.2 innings pitched. The Rockingham County pitching staff has a 4.64 ERA with 265 strikeouts in 292.2 innings pitched.