Courtesy * – Delgado CC Athletics
GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO – Delgado closed its historic 2023 campaign with a 12-9 loss to #1-seeded Central Florida Tuesday at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado.
An overturned homerun call in the first cost Delgado the early lead before the Patriots answered with three runs in the bottom frame, including a homerun by John Marant and a bases-loaded walk and hit batter to give Central Florida the early 3-0 lead. In the third, Jake Kaufmann walked and Cade Pregeant reached as a hit batter before both runs scored on a triple by Bryan Broussard. Josh Alexander grounded out to score Broussard for a game-tying third run. Central Florida plated three runs on a hit and an error in the bottom frame to take a 6-3 lead. In the fourth, the Patriots led off with a walk and single before scoring on a double, sacrifice fly, and RBI single to pad the lead by three and make it a 9-3 game through four innings.
In the fifth, Bryan Broussard singled and scored on a two run homerun by Josh Alexander to cut the lead to 9-5. Cole Stromboe reached on a one out walk in the sixth, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Jake Kaufmann for a sixth Delgado run. The Patriots reached on an error to open the sixth, followed by a double by Juan Correa and a single by Kareh Valentin to plate the run. Correa went on to score on a wild pitch for an eleventh run.
In the seventh, Bryan Broussard singled to open the inning, advancing on a balk before Josh Alexander reached on a walk. Broussard advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Jacob Singletary. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Logan O’Neill’s sacrifice fly plated Alexander to narrow the lead to 11-8. Delgado threatened with back-to-back singles in the eighth. Bryan Broussard reached on an infield error to load the bases before Jacob Singletary walked for a ninth Delgado run before the inning ended with bases loaded. Central Florida’s Juan Correa homered in the eighth before reliever retired the final four Dolphin batters on strikeouts to save the Patriot’s 12-9 victory.
Kyle St. Pierre (1.1 IP) suffered the loss in relief of starter Cory Cook. Aidan Murphy, Tyler Velino, and Kaile Levatino also appeared in relief. Levatino retired eight of the eleven hitters he faced in his three innings pitched.
In his postgame comments, Coach Scheuermann praised reliever Brian Holiday and Central Florida. “Our kids battled all year long and battled today and just couldn’t get it done. Tip your cap to Holiday (reliever) and Central Florida.”
Coach Scheuermann also echoed his program’s sentiments towards Grand Junction and the JUCO World Series committee. “I want to thank everyone here. Every junior college program in America starts the season trying to get here (Grand Junction) and once you get here you understand why you work your butt off 365 days a year to get here. The people of Grand Junction and Mr. Hamilton’s committee do a phenomenal job and I can’t say enough about what this place means to junior college baseball and what this place means to Delgado.”
With the loss, Delgado (47-13) closes its sixth NJCAA Division I World Series appearance 2-2, having tied the program’s single season win record at 47 victories. The 2023 Dolphins captured the NJCAA Region XXIII Division I title and South Central District Championship.
