Lions Take Two out of Three from Del-Tech

Raritan Valley took two out of three games in a weekend series against Delaware Technical Community College. In the opener, a full nine-inning contest on Friday, RVCC secured a 7–5 victory behind a strong combined effort on the mound. Freshman Ethan Carey earned the win, allowing four runs (three earned) over five innings, while fellow freshman Anthony DeNora closed the door with four solid innings, giving up one run, to pick up the save.

The series shifted to Delaware the following day for a doubleheader consisting of two seven-inning games. The Lions dropped the first game 5–0 but responded emphatically in the finale with a dominant 13–1 win. Freshman Mike Shipula led the offensive surge with an outstanding performance, blasting two home runs, while freshman Kevin Pepe was excellent on the mound, throwing a complete game to seal the victory. Overall, the team showed resilience in bouncing back after the Game 2 loss to claim the series.

In Fridays game, Del-Tech opened the scoring in the top of the second, scoring one run. RVCC made the score 3-2 in the bottom of the third after Tommy Baase doubled, and Mike Shipula singled, scoring two runs. Nick Sellitti made the game 5 to 4 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single. RVCC tallied 15 hits in the game. Shipula and Ben Linzer each lead the team with three. Sellitti, Shipula and Teodoro Garcia drove in two runs. 

Ethan Carey earned the win for Raritan Valley. The righty allowed four hits and four runs (three earned) over five innings, striking out four and walking three. Anthony DeNora collected the save throwing the final four innings of the contest surrendering two hits and one run while walking two and striking out three. 

Raritan Valley came up short in the middle game of the series (first game of Saturdays DH) losing 5 to 0. Ben Linzer took the loss for RVCC. The hurler went five innings, giving up five runs (two earned) on four hits, striking out five and walking four. Nick Sellitti, Jesse Lance and Teodoro Garcia collected the teams only three hits. 

The Lion's resilience showed in the series rubber match as the offense exploded for 13 runs after being shut out earlier in the day. The Lions scored three runs in the third and fifth innings and had a big seventh inning putting up seven more runs. Mike Shipula lead the way going 2-for-5 with 2 Home Runs and 4 runs batted in. He homered in the third and seventh innings. RVCC accumulated 12 hits in the game. Besides Shipula, Jesse Lance and Ben Hernandez each collected two hits. Teddy Garcia stole two bags and the defense turned two double plays. 

Kevin Pepe earned the win for RVCC. The freshman gave up four hits and one run in his complete game performance, striking out three and walking three. 

With the results of this series Raritan Valley improves their overall record to 14-8 and 5-4 in Region XIX play. Their next games will be this weekend as they face Mercer County CC in a Region XIX series. The first game will be Friday 3:00pm at RVCC. The second and third games will be played as a double header the following Saturday at 12:00 at Mercer County.