Box Score DANBURY, Conn. – The Manhattanville baseball team dropped their regular season finale on the road to Western Connecticut State by the score of 10-4 on Tuesday evening. The Valiants used a bevy of different players in the lineup during the contest to keep their batting skills sharp heading into the Freedom Conference Championship.
 
16 Different Valiants played the nine offensive positions during the contest, while 13 of them collected at least one hit each. Juniors Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury) and Sean Ferguson (Astoria, N.Y./Xavier), sophomore Billy Brusack (Yonkers, N.Y./Iona Prep) and freshman Nick Euvino (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) each collected a pair of hits.
 
LoVetere reached first on a single to start off the ball game but was erased on a fielder's choice. In the bottom of the first, the Colonials touched up Valiant started junior Edwin Aponte (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) for two runs along with some help on a pair of defensive miscues by sophomore Hans Arias (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) to take a 2-0 lead heading to the second.
 
Freshman Tom Kilkenny (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River), Arias and Brusack all collected two out singles in the top of the second but none of the trio were brought home as the Valiants left the bases loaded. Ferguson and classmate John Bucci (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) made their way into scoring position with two outs in the top of the third but again the Valiant offense was unable to bring anyone home off of Western Connecticut starter Josh Vaghi.
 
The Colonials hung up a five spot in the bottom of the third on the strength of four singles, one triple and a stolen base in the frame to take a 7-0 lead into the fourth inning.
 
Junior Bashir Masani (Westbury, N.Y./W.T. Clarke) came on to pitch the fourth and fifth innings for the Valiants and didn't allow a hit  in his two innings of work. Meanwhile in the top of the fifth, LoVetere led off with his second hit followed by a walk from senior Dan Fiorito (Yonkers, N.Y./Fordham Prep), after classmate Chris Nardozi flied out Ferguson singled up the middle to load the bases. Two batters later freshman Bobby Guerra (Bronx, N.Y./Arlington) singled into leftfield to put Manhattanville on the board as pinch-runners Elias Tsouristakis and Jeff Moskowitz (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) scored, leaving the third pinch-runner of the inning junior Matt Petrunti (East Granby, Conn./Loomis-Chaffee) on base.
 
The Valiants chipped away with their third run of the game as Brusack singled and advanced on a wild pitch. Two batters later Tsouristakis grounded into a double play to chase home Brusack. In the bottom of the sixth freshman Brian Lobel (Purchase, N.Y./Harrison) came on for his second career appearance and allowed three singles and a walk in the inning while allowing one run.
 
In the top of the seventh Euvino manufactured a run all himself as he led off with a single and stole second and third over the course of the next two batters. With Kilkenny batting Euvino scored a run on a wild pitch to cut the lead in half at 8-4.
 
Freshman Zak Zareva came on to pitch the final two innings, and after allowing a pair of runs in the seventh he shut down the Colonials 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Earning the win was Vaghi (1-0) who pitched five innings while allowing two runs on 11 hits, Derik Brady and Zack Taylor each pitched two innings to finish off the game. Taking the loss was Aponte (1-2) who allowed seven runs on eight hits over his three inning outing, while Masani had his best outing of the season pitching two hitless innings. Lobel allowed a run in the sixth, before Zareva allowed two runs on three hits over the final two innings.
 
Manhattanville (15-20) will return to the field of play on Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when they take on top seeded Misericordia in the Freedom Conference Championship in Quakertown, Pa.