(Valhalla, NY) - One year ago, Westchester Community College dropped three out of four baseball games during the same weekend to UConn Avery-Point and SUNY Adirondack, marking a 24-hour span that threw an entire season into doubt ... for a very short period. The 2019 version of that schedule saw Westchester prove that things might be coming together at just the right time as Region XV play looms.

13 different Vikings over two games drove in runs, and freshman pitcher Optaciano Polo (Yonkers, NY/Cardinal Hayes) continued his masterful start to the 2019 season with his second complete game in three starts to improve to 3-0, as Westchester CC swept the visiting Timberwolves, 8-7 and 11-5 during the 2019 on-campus opener for the Vikings. With the wins, Westchester is now 10-3 overall, finishing a 3-3 week.

Both games had similar blueprints as Westchester was forced to come from behind both games to earn the victories. 

During the opener, Westchester fell behind 4-0 after the top of the third inning, but a five-run third inning put the Vikings ahead for good.  During the rally, sophomore Steve Guzman (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy HS) doubled home a run, and freshman CJ Spence (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon HS) singled home Guzman to make it a 4-3 game. Spence later scored to tie the score on a Michael Cox (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas HS) single, and Westchester took the lead when Cox stole home. 

Adirondack then scored twice during the top of the fifth inning to take a 7-6 lead, but Westchester went ahead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning as a Steve Messerschmitt (Carmel, NY/Carmel HS) scored Guzman to tie the game, and a Tyler Parshley (Carmel, NY/Carmel HS) single scored Spence to close out the scoring.

Freshman Jake Jempty (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas HS) earned his first career win, pitching 2.1 spectacular innings. The rookie only allowed one hit, did not walk a batter, and struck out two.

Eight different Vikings record hits, and six different Westchester CC batters record RBI's. Spence went 1 for 2 with an RBI, two walks, and a run scored, while Guzman and Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mount Saint Michael) scored two runs each. 
 

Polo struggled early during the nightcap, allowing two first inning runs, but then settled in for another terrific performance. The freshman allowed three earned runs on seven hits over seven innings, whole striking out five and walking only two. 

Westchester tied the game in the third inning as freshman Nick Farda (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown HS) singled home two runs. Adirondack took a 3-2 lead the next inning, but an unearned Viking run during the bottom of the fourth inning tied the game 3-3. 

Adriondack scored two unearned runs off of Polo in the fifth, before a seven-run rally by Westchester CC in the bottom of the fifth inning put the Vikings ahead for good.  During the rally, Vanegas notched the game-winning RBI with a two run single that put WCC ahead 7-5, and then Westchester scored twice after bases loaded walks and once on a wild pitch to extend the lead.

Farda finished the game with three RBI's, while Messerschmitt and Vanegas had two hits apiece. Eight of Westchester's nine batters had at least one hit during the game, with the same eight batters scoring at least one run. 

Westchester Community College returns to action on Wednesday, March 27 when the Vikings host Queensborough Community College for a 3:30 p.m. single game.