Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (Groton, CT) - When all was said and done, and the 2018 Baseball season ended for the Westchester Community College Baseball team, one of the finest teams to ever take the field for a Vikings program with a tradition of incredible success can boast that they found a way to battle every pitch of every inning of every game against every team, regardless of the opponent. That included Sunday's District Championship opener against arch-rival UConn-Avery Point. A year after falling quietly twice to the Pointers during district play, the Vikings gave top-seeded UConn everything they could handle, ultimately falling 13-10 during an 11-inning thriller that was about as exciting of a game as has been seen at this level, ever.

Combined with a loss to Monroe Community College that began just minutes after the heartbreaking loss to open the tournament, and Westchester Community College's season has come to an end. The Vikings end the season with a 28-12 overall record, a Mid Hudson Conference Championship, and their fifth straight Region XV Crown.

Sunday's opener was not for the faint of heart. A back-and-forth start to the game saw UCAP take a 4-3 lead into the fifth inning, and from that point on, a playoff baseball game became a battle to see who would be the last team standing.

In the fifth inning, trailing by a single run, Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mount St. Michael) hit a two-out, two-strike, two RBI double to give the Vikings a 5-4 lead. An inning later, the lead became 7-4, when Paul Franzese (Somers, NY/Somers HS) blasted a two-run home run, and Westchester appeared to be cruising.

However, UConn scored twice in the sixth, and three more times during the seventh inning to take a 9-7 lead. After failing to score in the eighth inning, Westchester came to bat in the top of the ninth, desperate to find a way to avoid a huge hole by dropping the first game of the double-elimination series.

And, when his team needed a big hit the most, Jose Delacruz (New York, NY/George Washington HS) delivered. The sophomore belted a three-run home run to give WCC a 10-9 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. However, the Pointers battled back yet again, hitting a game-tying home run in the bottom of the frame to force extra innings.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, UConn-Avery Point hit a three-run walk-off home run to end the game, and force the Vikings to defeat Monroe Community College to keep their season going.

For Westchester, Franzese went 3 for 5 with three RBI's and two runs scored, while Bobby Wootten (Ardsley, NY/Ardsley HS) went 2 for 5 with two RBI's and a run scored. Vanegas also had two hits and two RBI's. Sophomore pitcher Nick Antenucci (Yonkers, NY/Stepinac) gave Westchester six strong innings, allowing five earned runs against a potent UConn line-up.

Unfortunately for WCC, Monroe Community College was just a bit too much for Westchetser, ending the Vikings season by a 7-2 final score.

After Franzese blasted a home run in the first inning to give Westchetser 1-0 lead, Monroe scored seven unanswered runs over the next seven innings to give the Tribunes a 7-1 lead heading into the eighth inning. In the eighth, a James Houlahan (Yorktown Heights, NY/Lakeland HS) RBI groundout brought WCC one run closer, but that was as close as the Vikings would get, as Monroe won the game 7-2 to advance to the finals of the District Tournament. 

Scottie Giordano (Croton, NY/Croton-Harmon HS) had two of Westchester's four hits - both doubles - while Franzese went 1 for 2 with two walks. Pitcher Max Marienberg (Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale HS) suffered his first loss of the season despite a solid performance, allowing three earned runs over five innings.