Charlotte 49ers pitcher John Hamilton pitched his second career complete game with five strikeouts against the Rhode Island Rams in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. Photo by Chris Crews
The two-seeded Charlotte 49ers appeared much more relaxed and confident Thursday afternoon against the three-seeded Rhode Island Rams.
The 49ers picked up a 5-2 win over the Rams in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.
49ers pitcher John Hamilton (6-3) put on an impressive show and tossed his second career complete game with five strikeouts.
Charlotte wasted no time putting a run on the board to create a comfortable lead against the Rams. After a single from Shane Basen and a double from Brad Elwood, Basen rounded home to put the 49ers up 1-0 in the bottom of the first.
With one out, Rhode Island’s Chris Famiglietti fired one deep left to pick up a double. Tim Caputo singled to the exact same spot in left field sending Famiglietti home to tie the game. After picking up a second out from a fly to left by Jeff Roy, Mike LeBel was left at the plate when Caputo was thrown out at first after coming too far off of the bag.
After Basen grounded one and was thrown out at first, Elwood drilled one right over second baseman Pat Fortunato’s head to pick up a single. Thanks to a Rhode Island error, Justin Seager got on first and Elwood advanced to second.
Tony Montalbano walked to first after a controversial call. It was unsure as to whether Montalbano was hit by a pitch, but it was eventually ruled that he was, and the 49ers loaded the bases. With two outs, Derek Gallello singled right up the middle sending Elwood and Seager home. Charlotte took a 3-1 lead to close out the bottom of the fourth.
The Rams got the bases loaded in the top of the fifth with two outs, but were unsuccessful in scoring any runs.
Elseser picked up a run for the 49ers when Elwood singled an RBI in the bottom of the fifth. With Elwood left on base, the 49ers had a comfortable 4-1 lead going into the sixth.
Leading off for the Rams, LeBel grounded the ball to Justin Seager at third base. Charlotte first baseman Grant Dunnegan and LeBel encountered a nasty collision during the throw from Seager to give the Rams their first out. LeBel was facedown in the dirt and appeared to be out cold for what felt like an eternity until he eventually rolled over on his own.
The tournament physician decided that LeBel was unable to return to the game after failing a concussion test. After a fifteen minute delay in game and one out on the board, the Rams went three up, three down.
Even after the Rams picked up a run in the top of the eighth, Elwood was able to pick up a run for the 49ers after a wild pitch from Rams pitcher Nick Narodowy.
Hamilton was able to strike out the second and third batter in the top of the ninth to secure a 5-2 win for the 49ers.
After head coach Loren Hibbs approached Hamilton at the mound in the top of the ninth, Hamilton knew he had it in him to close out the game.
“Well, Coach asked me how I was feeling, so I told him I felt good and I was confident in my breaking ball,” said Hamilton.
“We knew we had four lefties coming up and we knew we had to attack them, and I really focused on the lead off guy and getting him out first.”
Coach Hibbs did not shy away from letting everyone know how proud he was of Hamilton.
“Johnny Hamilton, he has done so well in his last four or five starts,” said Hibbs.
“He’s got himself in great condition physically, and he loves to compete.”
Rhode Island has been a strong team all season, and Hibbs acknowledged the unusual opportunities the Rams gave the 49ers.
“They did, and that’s uncharacteristic of them. They really, well usually don’t make many mistakes, and we made a couple of mistakes that we don’t normally make either,” said Hibbs.
The Charlotte 49ers are now 2-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. The 49ers will play the four-seeded Xavier Musketeers (32-24) on Friday at 12:00 p.m.