On Friday afternoon, the baseball team hosted Longwood for a non-league match-up and took down last year’s Suffolk Class AA semifinalists in an 8-3 win.

After Chris Nell worked around a two-out single in the 1st, the Bears got on the board in the bottom half when Aiden Ruiz doubled home Jayden Stroman (walk) for a 1-0 lead. After Ruiz stole third, Logan Charboneau walked and stole second before Seth Laureano singled home the pair for a 3-0 lead. In the 2nd, the Bears extended the lead when they loaded the bases with one out on a pair of walks by Mateo Lopez and Jordan Serrano that bookended an Isaiah Gibbs single. Stroman capitalized on the situation with a double to left that plated two for a 5-0 lead. Two batters later, Serrano scampered home on a wild pitch to give The Brook a six-run lead through two innings.

The Lions struck back for a run in the 4th on a wild pitch, but the Bears got the run back in the 5th when a Laureano sacrifice fly scored Ruiz (double). Franco singled in the next at bat to score Peter Calone (pinch runner) and push the lead to 8-1. A Longwood double in the 7th scored a run before a groundout plated another, but Serrano struck out the final batter to close the victory.

Nell earned the win by giving up only 1 hit and 1 run over 5.0 innings while striking out 5. Alex Baaden sat down all three batters he faced in the 6th, and Serrano capped the 7th inning with a K. Laureano powered the offense with 3 RBIs.

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