The CRCBL won their opener in Puerto Rico, 5-2, over host Caguas-Guaynabo on Tuesday evening in the first of four exhibition games against Puerto Rican amateur teams.
After falling behind early, 2-0, the Ripken Leaguers got a double from Matt Marquis (University of Maryland/Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts) in the fourth inning and a painful RBI-hit-by-pitch from Cory Jensen (Florida Southern University/Baltimore Redbirds). Meanwhile, starter Cameron Love (University of San Francisco/Bethesda Big Train) struck out ten batters in four innings before giving way to Dustin Herbert (Salisbury University/Southern Maryland Nationals), who struck out seven more in four innings of his own.
While Herbert was keeping Caguas-Guaynabo in check, the Ripken Leaguers got two runs off a Frank Florio (University of Tulane/Baltimore Redbirds) two-RBI single in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh. Mason Morioka (University of San Francisco/Bethesda Big Train) singled and later scored on a wild pitch and Seth Williams (Michigan State University/Bethesda Big Train) plated Marquis with a single. Bryan Hamilton (University of North Carolina-Charlotte/Bethesda Big Train) struck out two in the ninth to get the save.
The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League Showcase Team plays Cidra, Wednesday evening , at 6:00 pm. Follow all the action during this week on Twitter @CalRipkenLeague.
