Baseball Falls to CCBC Essex in Region Tourney

NORTH EAST, MD. – The Anne Arundel Community College baseball team's season came to an end in the NJCAA Region 20 Division II Tournament Saturday as the sixth seeded Riverhawks fell to the fifth seed CCBC Essex Knights, 10-1, in seven innings. Designated hitter Alejandro Casanova hit a solo home run in the second inning for the Riverhawks.

AACC (25-32) finishes the season with the most wins since 2012 and the Riverhawks' first appearance in the double elimination round of the Region Tournament since 2017.

Essex took an early 1-0 lead on a Sammy Canela solo shot to left center, but Casanova responded in the second with a long shot over the right field fence to tie the game at 1-1.

The Knights added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth when a single through the middle sailed just past a diving John Greenawalt at second base. Essex added three runs in the sixth when a leadoff double that bounced off the centerfield wall paved the way for another home run from Canela, this time a two-run shot over the left field fence. Essex got one more on an RBI groundout to carry a 6-1 lead into the seventh.

Essex sealed the game in the seventh as Waskar Vicente Martinez hit a walk off grand slam to enact the run rule.

Catcher Sam D'Amelio collected the other hit for the Riverhawks to close the season on a seven-game hit streak.

Shane Emerson had the start on the mound for AACC, allowing one run on four hits through 3.1 innings. Jack Hogan (1-1) took the loss with five runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of relief. Zach Ford allowed two hits in one inning before Ethan Grieb finished out the game with a third of an inning on the mound.

CCBC Essex faces CCBC Catonsville in Saturday's second elimination game; the winner will face top seed Frederick for the Region title on Sunday, May 14.