Box Score
(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson baseball team closed out the season with a thrilling 12-inning win over Johns Hopkins on Sunday afternoon. Senior Joe Tursi (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) drove in the winning run in his final at bat at MacPhail Field to cap a brilliant career as a Red Devil.
Dickinson scored three runs in the first inning, all unearned following a Blue Jay error. Tursi singled to score the first run and came around on the second of two sacrifice fly outs.
The game took a bizarre turn in the fourth inning. An apparent fly out was erased as the umpire ruled the ball was dropped. That triggered a domino effect that led to four Blue Jay runs, putting Hopkins in front, 4-3.
The Red Devils regained the lead in the fifth, scoring two runs. Sophomore Brian McCloud (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) reached on a walk. He stole second and moved to third as the throw sailed into the outfield.
It wouldn't matter as Steven Haynes (Mt. Kisco, N.Y./Mt. Kisco) doubled to score McCloud and tie the game. Haynes came in to score as well as the Devils performed a well-executed double-steal.
The Blue Jays answered to tie the game in the eighth. Raul Shah was hit by a pitch. He moved to third and came across on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Hettleman to knot the game at five.
The game was scoreless until the top of the 12th inning. Hopkins capitalized on a walk, sacrifice, passed ball and a sacrifice fly to manufacture a go-ahead run in the top of the inning.
With their backs against the wall, the Red Devils would answer. Haynes came through again, reaching on a one-out single. An amazing catch by Shah on a foul ball over third base gave the Devils two outs. Ryan Dolan (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Germantown Academy) gambled, reaching on a bunt-base-hit, dragged beautifully down the third base line.
The Red Devils received new life on a Hopkins error as they loaded the bases for Tursi. The senior captain came through in the clutch, driving in the winning run with a single through the right side.
Haynes went 3-for-5 on the day, scoring twice and driving in one run. Dolan, Mark Adams and Tursi each tallied two hits on the day. Tursi drove in two runs and scored another.
Garrett Kurtz (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) pitched well in the start. Cristian Acosta (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Berkshire School) came on to perform exceptionally well in relief, going eight innings, recording five strikeouts and allowing just one run. Christian Salem (Jenkintown, Pa./Chestnut Hill) and Jimmy Robertson (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) came on in the ninth to close out the game.
The Red Devils finish 22-12-1 overall and 8-9-1 in the Centennial Conference. The Red Devils just miss the conference playoffs. Had they been able to finish, and win the game against Muhlenberg on Friday, the Devils would have earned the #3-seed in the tournament, by virtue of a tie-break.
Regardless, a great season for the Red Devils. They finish with the second-highest win total in program history.
