Schepis Dazzles, SeaWolves Clinch YSCC #1 Seed

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine—The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) baseball team defeated the Mustangs from Central Maine Community College (CMCC) 11-1 in a Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) ballgame that went seven innings on Thursday, Apr. 26.

First-year Alex Schepis (Waterboro, Maine) was handed the ball to give the home team another quality start. The right-hander looked polished in five innings of work in which he allowed one run over three hits and struck out six. Sophomore Noah Watson (Ayer, Mass.) made only his second appearance of the season after battling back from a shoulder injury. Watson struck out the only two batters he faced before first-year Iain McGaff (Boston, Mass.) came on in relief to shut the door. Schepis earned the win to stay perfect at 5-0 on the season.

The SeaWolf offense wasted no time pushing three runs across in the first frame and another in the third on a ground-out RBI by sophomore captain Dylan Francoeur (Westbrook, Maine). The Mustangs scored their lone run in the fifth before Francoeur answered the bell again in the bottom half roping a RBI-double to left.

SMCC did more damage in the sixth inning extending its lead by five runs to feature a one-out 3-RBI triple delivered by sophomore captain Ian Westphal (Portland, Maine) and an RBI-knock courtesy of first-year captain Peter Stauber (Cumberland, Maine). The SeaWolves scored another in the seventh to invoke the 10-run rule.

CMCC's Damien St. Pierre was taxed the loss.

In a post-game interview, Head Coach Dave Walsh commented, "The difference in today's win was that we were able to put all three concepts together—a refreshing performance from those of late. We were able to manufacture runs, pitchers were able to keep hitters off balance, and the defense was able to make the routine play.

View the photo gallery of the game HERE.

The SeaWolves improve to 24-7 overall and clinch the top-seed in the YSCC standings getting to 5-1. The Mustangs stand 7-14 overall, 2-5 in conference action.

Next up for SMCC are home dates with Carlton College (Canada) on Saturday, Apr. 27 and another twinbill with Massasoit Community College on Sunday, Apr. 28. Stay tuned using the SMCC Athletics Twitter account for weather updates over the weekend.

For the latest on SMCC's athletic programs, log onto GoSMCCSeawolves.com or follow Southern Maine Community College Athletics on Twitter @SMCCseawolves and on Facebook SMCC Seawolves.