NORTHFIELD, Vt.- After honoring the eight members of the 2024-25 graduating class, the Norwich Baseball team completed an emphatic twin bill sweep of New England College Friday afternoon, as they build momentum in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) with the regular season winding down.

The Cadet onslaught began early in the first game, bringing home four runs in the first two innings. Leadoff man Brock Carpenter (East Berlin, Pa.) started things off by shooting the right center field gap with a triple. An Isaac Maldonado (Miami, Fla.) walk put runners on the corners. The following batter, Geffen Franus (Leesburg, Va.), punched a hole in the left side of the infield, bringing Carpenter home. After a sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, John O'Connor (Southington, Conn.) plated Maldonado with a sacrifice fly. Michael Sabasteanski (Ashburn, Va.) kept it going by scoring Franus with an RBI single. In the second, Jakub Hayes (Arlington, Texas) hit a leadoff double to left before coming home on a ground rule double by Carpenter two batters later.

In the third, the Pilgrims shrunk the Cadet lead to two, but that would be the only runs that Ryan Miller (Westhampton, N.Y.) would allow through five innings of work on the mound while striking out six.

In the fifth, the Norwich offense erupted with 11 runs on eight hits, with seven coming before an out was recorded. Maldonado and Franus started it with back-to-back base hits, with Maldonado coming home on a Miller double down the right field line. A free pass to O'Connor loaded the bases before Sabasteanski cleared them with a triple to the left-center field gap. Alex DeTomasis (East Greenwich, R.I.) brought him home with a single, and he came home as part of a two-run homer by Hayes. A Kevin Ohlsen (Shirley, N.Y.) double forced an NEC pitching change before eventually coming home on a passed ball. Three free passes and a hit batsman led to another run, with Sabasteanski scoring the final run of the frame with a single.

Multiple Cadets stared at the dish in the opener, including: Carpenter (2-5, Run, RBI, Triple), Maldonado (1-3, 3 Runs), Franus (2-4, 3 Runs, RBI), O'Connor (3 Walks, 2 RBI), Sabasteanski (3-4, Run, 5 RBI), DeTomasis (2-3, Run, RBI), and Hayes (2-4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, Home Run).

The Cadets kept rolling in game two with Carpenter coming home on a fielder's choice in the first. The Pilgrims scored a run of their own in the second to answer, but Norwich regained the lead with two runs each in the third and fourth.

In the third, with the bases loaded and two down, Sabasteanski delivered again with a two-run single. DeTomasis and Hayes reached base to open the fourth, with Ohlsen driving home DeTomasis on a fielder's choice. Ohlsen worked his way over to third before coming home on a Carpenter single.

The Norwich pitching staff, comprised of Jordan Talbot (Belchertown, Mass.) and Carson Rath (Glens Falls, N.Y.) kept the NEC bats at bay through the first seven innings, combining for five strikeouts, and only permitting one run on five hits.

NEC closed the gap to two in the eighth inning, however, Norwich answered in the home half with a Hayes sacrifice fly, scoring Sabasteanski. Noah Carpenter (Herkimer, N.Y.) nailed down the 6-3 victory with his first save of the season. Offensively, Carpenter, Maldonado, Franus, and Sabasteanski tallied two hits each.

On Monday, the Cadets will travel down Interstate 89 to continue GNAC play against Colby-Sawyer in a doubleheader starting at noon.