KINGS POINT, N.Y. (May 6, 2024) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy baseball team closed out the regular season on Monday with a Skyline doubleheader sweep of Old Westbury at Bartoszek Field. The Mariners won the opener 2-1, before claiming a 10-0 victory in the second game.
 
Merchant Marine's record improves to 26-14 (15-5 Skyline), as the Mariners secure the #2 seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championship. The Panthers fall to 14-20 (9-11 Skyline).
 
Game Links

• Game 1 Box Score
• Game 2 Box Score
• WATCH: Postgame Interview With Freshman Tommy Chiappetti
• WATCH: Postgame Interview With Senior Jackson Troutt 

Game 1
All the scoring in the opener came in the very first inning. The Panthers got on the board first with an RBI double by Nick Papageo. The Mariners answered right back in the bottom half with a two-RBI double by junior Travis Leatherwood (Catonsville, Md.) that plated classmate Jack Millen (Shelby, N.C.) and sophomore Charles Cahalan (Overland Park, Kan.).
 
Cahalan finished 3-for-3 with a double, while Jamie Barrios was 2-for-4 with a double for Old Westbury.
 
Both pitchers tossed complete games, as Rob Manetta suffered the loss allowing the two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts, while freshman Tommy Chiappetti (Buckeye, Ariz.) earned the victory after tossing seven innings, giving up one run on just three hits with six Ks.
 
Game 2
Chiappetti opened the scoring in game two with a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the third. Senior Tyler Reistetter (Dickinson, Texas) scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to make it 4-0 before the Mariners added four more runs in the fifth on a sac fly by Reistetter, RBI singles by junior Danny Heck (Massillon, Ohio) and freshman Landon Troutt (Fairfield, Calif.) and a wild pitch that plated senior Brice Garner (Fort Collins, Colo.).
 
In the bottom of the eighth, senior pitcher Jackson Troutt (Fairfield, Calif.) came to the plate for his first collegiate at-bat and blasted a single up the middle, as he will finish his career with a perfect 1.000 batting average. Later in the inning, Bridges had a "walk-off" two-RBI single in the eighth inning that brought the game to an end due to the mercy rule. Reistetter, Heck and Garner all scored twice in the victory.
 
On the mound, freshman David Cherwonuk (Chattanooga, Tenn.) earned the victory after tossing three scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and five strikeouts. The Mariners hung two more zeros in the fourth and fifth thanks to hitless innings of work by junior Jacob Syversen (Land O' Lakes, Fla.) and Kellen Brown (Fort Pierce, Fla.), before senior Tommy Payton (Palm Harbor, Fla.) pitched two innings of relief with three Ks. Sophomore Eddie Lippert (Deer Park, N.Y.) closed out the game with a scoreless and hitless top of the eighth inning with one strikeout.
 
Up next is the Skyline Conference Double-Elimination Championship Tournament this weekend, hosted by top-seeded St. Joseph's-Long Island. The Mariners are slated to play in the second game on Friday, May 9, against an opponent that is still to be determined. They will learn of their opponent after the first round in completed this Wednesday. Live stats and live video feeds of all games of this weekend's Skyline Tournament will be available with links on the USMMA Baseball Schedule Page.
 
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