College Sports
Division II Bentley University and Division III Endicott College are headed to their respective championship round locations.
Stan DeMartinis III hoists the DII East Super Regional trophy after scoring the game-winning run for Bentley. @BentleyFalcons on X
Two local college baseball programs made history this weekend.
Bentley University in Waltham advanced to the NCAA Division II World Series for the first time in program history by defeating Molloy University at home in a three-game Super Regional series.
Endicott College in Beverly continued its stretch of dominance by advancing to the Division III championship round for the fourth consecutive year with a Super Regional victory on the road over Salve Regina University.
The Bentley Falcons (44-15) won 3-2 in comeback fashion in the win-or-go-home Game 3 Saturday. Graduate outfielder Stan DeMartinis III scored on a wild pitch to walk off and send his team to North Carolina to compete in the World Series.
The team erupted into a well-deserved, electric on-field celebration.
Bentley and Molloy split the first two games Thursday and Friday, forcing a third and final game Saturday. The Falcons found themselves down 1-0 in the first inning of the do-or-die contest, but battled back to score two in the sixth.
Molloy quickly knotted the score at two runs apiece in the seventh frame, but Bentley had the last word in the bottom of the ninth on a costly mistake by the pitcher.
DeMartinis was still in awe of the result during his postgame media availability.
“It was unbelievable. It was unbelievable and this still doesn’t feel real,” DeMartinis said. “This shows all the hard work. Today wasn’t our prettiest game, but we trust each other, battled, and we got it done.”
Graduate pitcher Sam Bellivau of Wenham threw a stellar eight-inning start and struck out as many batters. Junior hurler Keegan Antelman, a native of Hudson, earned the win in relief.
Falcons head coach Mike Hill said he was proud of his history-making squad and enjoyed experiencing such a thrilling ball game.
“It was definitely different than a regular season baseball game,” Hill said. “The intensity, what was at stake, obviously. I thought the guys played great.”
As for the Endicott Gulls, they made it clear they’re determined as ever to bring home their first College World Series trophy. Endicott topped Salve Regina in a three-game set in Newport, Rhode Island, Saturday.
The Gulls took Game 1 Friday, but the Seahawks won a close Game 2 Saturday to force a win-or-go-home third contest the same day.
The first two matchups were tight finishes, but Endicott easily clinched the Super Regionals crown in Game 3 by a score of 12-4. Three separate Gulls batters clobbered home runs in the offensive onslaught: Shrewsbury native AJ Hamm, Reading native Brenden Walsh, and TJ Liponis of Scarborough, Maine.
Endicott, which won its 40th game of the season, punched its fourth straight ticket to Ohio to compete in the College World Series.
The Gulls became the first DIII baseball program since SUNY Cortland (1997-2001) to play in four consecutive championships. Longtime head coach Bryan Haley said he could hardly believe that feat is a reality for his squad.
“Extremely proud of what these guys did,” Haley said of his team. “I can’t even fathom the fact that we’re going to a fourth World Series and that these two young men next to me (Liponis and winning pitcher Evan Scully of Maynard) have done it four times in a row along with their teammates who are seniors.
“It really just doesn’t make sense to me. I feel like we’re truly blessed. I know we are.”
The World Series trophy has proven to be elusive for the Gulls the last three years, but Liponis said he’s looking forward to having another shot at winning it all.
“I think the biggest thing … is just staying together. I mean, we’ve created a family here and being able to be with each other for another week is gonna be awesome,” he said. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun together and just go play our baseball.”
Bentley’s and Endicott’s championship opponents and game schedules are to be determined.
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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