Dukes Baseball off to hot start in April
As we approach the midway point in the month of April, the RCSJ- Cumberland Dukes baseball team looks to keep their momentum going after posting a record of 6-3 in March. The Dukes began April with a sweep of the Salem Community College Mighty Oaks. Cumberland was led offensively in the series by Carelle Gonzalez, Kevin Merrone, and Gavin Gates. All three of these student-athletes recorded a double in game 1 of the series, while both Gates and Matt Shepherd hit home runs for the Dukes. Michael Dodd held it down on the mound for Cumberland in game 2 as he pitched 7 innings while only giving up 2 earned runs. Jake Gugliegmi also got in on the action offensively for Cumberland in the series as he tallied 3 hits with 3 RBI's.
Cumberland then welcomed to the Dukes Baseball Complex the Sussex County Community College Skylanders. Game 1 was a pitching battle between these two teams in which the Dukes edged out Sussex with a 3-0 victory. Andrew Simone dominated as he threw 6 shutout innings before giving way to Jake Crawford to close out the game. Crawford went 1,2,3 in the top of the seventh inning; giving up 0 hits and striking out 1 Skylander batter. Game 2 in the series would not be decided until the bottom of the 8th inning. Colin Mccormick came off the bench for the Dukes to deliver the win with a walk-off single which would complete the sweep for Cumberland. Carelle Gonzlez and Jaques Colon also delivered in game 2 as Colon recorded 2 RBI's and Gonzalez added 3 of his own.
After a brief pause for student safety concerns, the Dukes hit the road to face the Mercer County Community College Vikings. This contest would go into extra innings before Christian Lutz delivered the go-ahead single to score Carelle Gonzalez in the top of the 10th inning. Scott Craig earned the win for Cumberland as threw 3 shutout innings en route to a 6-5 Cumberland victory.
As the season stands the Dukes currently hold an 11-3 record and are ranked 4th nationally in the latest NJCAA Baseball polls. The squad will return to action tomorrow (4/16) at home when they face off against the Atlantic Cape Community College Buccaneers at 3:30 PM.