Senior Day Sweep Sends Bulldogs to the Playoffs for the First Time in Program History
- Richard Struzziery
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Dean Baseball is headed to the GNAC playoffs for the first time in program history after a historic senior day double-header. They faced conference rival Norwich University at Franklin on Monday, and the Bulldogs took care of business. Winning game 1, 4-3 and game 2, 9-8 in a 13-inning shootout.
Almost half of the players on the roster for Dean are seniors; the Bulldogs in total had 14 seniors that were honored on Monday. Those seniors are:
#4 JR Salvadore
#10 Styles Hucul
#13 Tyler Giambra
#14 Captain Nick Amendolara
#15 Kiefer Culligan
#16 Captain Jacob Paschetto
#17 Captain Dominic Brazeau
#18 Spencer Lichstrahl
#21 Nick Swain
#22 Captain Colin Favata
#24 Luke Fahey
#25 Zach Handfield
#27 Gavin Goss
#36 Jomar Angel Soto Castro
Prior to the season, senior Tyler Giambra said his goal for this season was “being the first team in Dean history to make the playoffs."
Senior Spencer Lichstrahl had similar goals stating, “That’s definitely one of the team goals is to make the playoffs."
Now those goals of reaching the playoffs in their senior seasons have been completed with senior day wins over Norwich.
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Game 1: Fittingly for the Bulldogs on senior day, senior captain Dominic Brazeau put on a masterclass performance on the mound in game 1, pitching all 7 innings and tallying 6 strikeouts on the day.
The scoring started in the first inning where the Cadets got on the board first with a sacrifice fly RBI play. However, when the Bulldogs stepped up to plate, Jacob Paschetto ripped a double which allowed Colin Favata to score and tie things at 1 run a piece in the first inning.
A pitching error from Norwich in the 3rd inning would allow Colin Favata to score once again, putting the Bulldogs up 2-1. However, a 2-run single in the 4th from the Cadets had them back on top.
Eventually the tying and lead taking runs would score and it would be two seniors yet again as this time in the 6th inning. Spencer Lichstrahl scored on an error and Gavin Goss scored off the Dylan Altermatt single.
Game 1 would end with Dominic Brazeau going 1-2-3 in the 7th and closing out the game for the Bulldogs striking out the final batter. The final score was 4-3.
Game 2: Another senior would get the start on the mound for the Bulldogs in this one as this time it was Nick Swain. This game did not start the way the Bulldogs wanted, after 4 innings they trailed 7-2.
However, a 5-run inning from Dean would tie this game and completely flip the script following the 7th inning. Those 5-runs were all scored by seniors; Tyler Giambra got things going, followed by Jacob Paschetto and Colin Favata. Then a Luke Fahey single would score 2 runs as Nick Amendolara and Gavin Goss reached home plate and tied things at 7-7.
5 scoreless innings later and the Cadets took an 8-7 lead in the top of the 13th inning. More errors from Norwich would allow Jacob Paschetto to steal home and tie the ball game at the bottom of the 13th.
Then, senior Luke Fahey was up to bat. The game winning and playoff clinching run was at 3rd base. On a full count pitch, Fahey delivered the game winner off the left field wall as Nick Peterson scores and the Bulldogs officially clinched a spot in the GNAC playoffs for the first time in program history.
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The historic season will continue for the Bulldogs as they have already broken numerous records this season with first year head coach Tyler Fitzgerald completely flipping the script of the Dean Baseball. This season, the Bulldogs will have an above .500 record for the first time in program history, have won 10 conference games in a season for the first time in program history, and as mentioned before they are headed to the GNAC playoffs for the first time in program history.
With these two wins, the Bulldogs improved to 18-13 with 3 games remaining on their schedule. Their next game is against an out-of-conference opponent in the Framingham State Rams on Wednesday. Then, that is followed by a double-header on Saturday the 25th as they travel to Nashua, New Hampshire for a GNAC double-header vs Rivier.
