*Courtesy Delgado Sports Information
NEOSHO, Mo. — Delgado defeated Seminole State College 3-2 and Crowder 8-5 Saturday to improve to 2-0 in the opening round of the 2023 NJCAA South Central District Championship in Neosho, Missouri.
In Game 1 against Seminole State scored two in the sixth on back-to-back singles to take a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, Logan O’Neill reached on a leadoff single and advanced to third on a single by Jake Kaufmann to cut the lead to a run. Kaufmann advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on a pinch-hit single by Cole Stromboe to tie the game at two. In the ninth, Jhonnatan Ferrebus reached on a two-out single, advanced on a single by Logan O’Neill and scored on a double by Tyler Cook for the 3-2 lead. Kaile Levatino retired the final five Trojan batters to earn the win in relief of starter Carson Lore, who pitched 7.1 innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out six.
In Game 2, Delgado batted around in the top of the first to plate five runs on four hits, including three consecutive singles and a bases-clearing double by Jhonnatan Ferrebus. Tyler Cook reached on a fielder’s choice that erased Ferrebus and later scored on a bases-loaded hit batter to give Delgado the early 5-0 lead. Crowder plated its first run on an RBI single in the third. In the sixth, Delgado plated three unearned runs on three Crowder errors to expand the lead to 8-1. The Roughriders added a run in the sixth on a wild pitch. In the seventh, back-to-back two-out singles added three runs to cut the lead to 8-5. Kaile Levatino entered the game in the eighth in relief of Tyler Velino, who pitched 1.2 innings in relief of starter Chris Olivier, who went 5.2 innings.
With the wins, Delgado advances to the championship round and will face the winner of Saturday’s Game 3 between Crowder and Seminole State at 2 p.m. Sunday. A Delgado win would earn the Dolphins a NJCAA World Series berth while a loss would force a deciding game immediately after its conclusion.