Henby and Avallone Hit Homers vs. Fredonia

Jack Henby (Hornell) and Matteo Avallone (Mahopac/Bridgton Academy) hit homers as Alfred State battled Fredonia on Monday. The Blue Devils took both games, 3-1 and 6-3.

The Pioneers took an early lead with a pair of unearned runs. The game remained 2-0 until the 5th when Henby hit a homer to left field to lead off the inning. The Blue Devils added an insurance run in the bottom of the 5th on a squeeze bunt. 

In the 7th, the Pioneers put a runner on base and sent the tying run to the plate with one out in the inning but could not score against Sam Cestra who finished off his complete game victory.

Gavin Moore (Hilton) was 2 for 3 and accounted for half of the Pioneers hits in the opener. Chris Baldwin (Patchogue-Medford) was outstanding out of the bullpen. He allowed two hits and one earned run in four innings of work. He didn't walk a batter and struck out four.

In the nightcap, Fredonia scored three in the 2nd and two more in the 3rd to build a 5-0 lead. In the 5th, Connor Pingitore (Amsterdam/Broadalbin-Perth) cut the lead to 5-2 when he drove in a pair with a RBI single to left. In the 6th, Avallone led off the inning with a homer to left center. Tim Holler (Brewster) followed with a double and Ryan Santiago (Staten Island/HS of Telecommunications) drew a walk to force a pitching change. Kenny Ynoa came out of the bullpen and got of the jam and Fredonia added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning. Ynoa retired the Pioneers in order in the 7th to secure the save.

Avallone was 3 for 3 with a RBI while Connor Hong (Gates Chili) and Devin Mersmann (Arcade/Pioneer) combined to throw 3.2 innings of relief allowing just one unearned run.

The Pioneers are back in action on Wednesday when they host LaRoche in a AMCC doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.