CHICAGO – Since the NJCAA created its statistical archives in 2000-01, the Olive-Harvey baseball team has never defeated Triton College.
That, however, changed Thursday when the Panthers posted a 5-2 victory over Triton at OHC.
Starting pitcher Josh Morales (Island Coast H.S./Cape Coral, Fla.) picked up the win after holding the Trojans to two runs – one earned – and five hits while striking out a pair in seven innings. The freshman right-hander leads the Olive-Harvey staff with three wins (3-3), a 2.81 ERA and 44 strikeouts.
Julio Castro (Island Coast H.S./Cape Coral, Fla.), who started the game at third base and singled in the second inning, pitched the final two frames in relief to record his second save of the year. He surrendered one hit and struck out one.
Triton did its scoring early on, posting a run in both the first and second innings. In the final seven innings, Morales and Castro only allowed three runners to get into scoring position.
Olive-Harvey matched the guests with a run of its own in each of the first two innings and went in front for good with a marker in the third. The Panthers added some insurance with single tallies in both the fifth and eighth innings.
Kenneth O’Farrill (Vocacional Miguel Such H.S./Loiza, Puerto Rico) and Castro scored OHC’s first two runs in the first and second innings, respectively, on wild pitches. William Wormsbecher (Pembroke Pines Charter/Pembroke Pines, Fla.) knocked in the go-ahead run in the third when his sacrifice fly plated O’Farrill.
With one out in the fifth, Ronald Applewhite (Rich East H.S.) doubled and scored two hitters later on Kardenis Jimenez’s (Luz America Calderon H.S./Carolina, Puerto Rico) two bagger to up the lead to 4-2.
In the eighth, Jimenez was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on Hector Rojas’ (Juarez Community Academy) base hit before scoring on Bryan Colon’s (Pro Baseball Academy/Arroyo, Puerto Rico) bunt. Rojas contributed with his glove as well as he made a sliding catch in left field with a runner on base to end the top half of the eighth.
Along with scoring twice, O’Farrill also had a single and a pair of stolen bases.
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