Nationally ranked Jefferson (20th) punched its ticket to the next round of the CACC Tournament on Friday with a performance that had a little bit of everything — a walk-off double in one game, a demolition job in the next, and enough fireworks to leave Chestnut Hill wondering what just hit them.
It all started in Game 1, where the Rams came out swinging. Javon Hernandez wasted no time, blasting a two-run homer in the first inning to set the tone. By the third, Joshua Lopez added a run with a single up the middle, and Justin Espinal made it a five-run cushion with a two-run shot of his own. But this was no easy cruise.
The Griffins clawed back, cutting it to 8-2, then 8-5 after a seventh-inning two-run homer and a wild pitch in the eighth. And just when Jefferson thought they could coast, Chestnut Hill erupted in the ninth — three walks, a two-run double, and a game-tying single knotted things at 8-8.
But here’s the thing about the Rams: they don’t flinch. Julio Frometa Gomez drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the ninth, Jordan Tiburcio laid down a perfect sac bunt, and then it was Jay Salsbery time — a laser double to right-center, walk-off style, capping a wild 9-8 win.
Danny Kerr logged eight innings (9 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 K), while Tyler Behm came on in the ninth, worked around two hits, and earned the win.
With the dramatic opener in the books, Jefferson wasted no time making Game 2 a statement. Thomas Matuszewski doubled home a run in the first, Lopez added a single, and in the second, Gabe Silva ripped a two-run triple before Matuszewski returned to launch a three-run homer. By the time the Griffins exhaled, it was 7-0.
And the onslaught kept coming — Silva singled home another run in the third, Lopez launched a solo homer in the fourth, and by the seventh, the scoreboard read 12-0. Chestnut Hill scratched across a late run, but it barely dented the celebration.
On the mound, Albert Bobadilla was masterful, going 7.2 innings (3 H, 1 R, 4 K), and Kevin Baez slammed the door with 1.1 innings of two-strikeout relief.
By day’s end, the Rams had scored 21 runs, racked up four homers, and punched their ticket to the double-elimination round of the CACC Championship, where they’ll face No. 2 North seed Felician University on Thursday, May 8 at 9 a.m. in Wilmington, Delaware.
For Jefferson, the bats are hot, the arms are locked in, and the tournament road just got a lot more interesting.
