POMONA, N.Y.- The Pace baseball team came up short as they dropped their first game of the season in a 7-4 loss to the Spartans of Saint Thomas Aquinas College. The Setters fall to 4-1 on the season, while the Spartans improve to 4-4 overall.
The Spartans jumped out early with a run in the first inning and added five runs in the second frame. Pace chipped away in the third as Brandon Martineson (Warwick, NY/Warwick) (Warwick, NY/Warwick) doubled and moved to third on a single by Michael Liguori (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) (Rockville, Centre, NY/Chaminade). Martineson scored on an RBI groundout by Chris Gili (Waccabuc, NY/Eastport-South Manor) (Waccabuc, NY/Eastport-South Manor).
The Setters added a run in the fourth as Joe Solomeno (Holbrook , NY/Sachem East) (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a single by Patrick Chaputian (Sea Cliff, NY/North Shore) (Sea Cliff, NY/North Shore). Solmeno came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Joe Lombardi (Briarcliff, NY/Briarcliff) (Briarcliff, NY/Briarcliff). In the seventh, Gili led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a sac bunt and reached third on a groundout. Solomeno drove in Gili with a run-scoring single to pull Pace to within two runs at 6-4. Saint Thomas Aquinas tacked on a run in the eighth as the Setters came up short of a 5-0 start to their season.
For Pace, Solomeno went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run, while James Pjura (Shelton, CT/Shelton) (Shelton, CT/Shelton) also went 2-for-4 on the day. On the mound, Edward Byrne (Yonkers, NY/Archbishop Stepanic) went three innings, allowing six runs on seven hits, while striking out two to drop to 1-1 on the season. Jonathan Chudy (Goshen, NY/Goshen) (Goshen, NY/Goshen) tossed 2 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings as he struck out two. Jonathan Hornung (Calverton, NY/Riverhead) (Calverton, NY/Riverhead) pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and struck one, while Nick Sammartano (Huntington Station, NY/Huntington) (Huntington Station, NY/Huntington) retired the lone batter he faced. Josh Grant (Corning, NY/Corning Painted Post West) came on for the final inning and allowed two hits.
The Setters return to action on Wednesday, March 7 when Pace will host the Valiants of Manhattanville College at Finnerty Field at 3 pm.
