Campus News
April 28th, 2025
GC sets school wins record in sweep of Raptors
Lakers proceed to pick up pivotal split against Hagerstown
Garrett College's baseball team broke the school record for wins in a season – which had been 32 – last Saturday against Montgomery College. The Lakers are 36-15 with two doubleheaders remaining in the regular season.
Germantown, MD – Garrett College swept Montgomery College, 5-2 and 9-1, on Saturday to set a school record for wins in a baseball season. The Lakers then extended that record Sunday with a pivotal doubleheader split against Hagerstown Community College.
"That happens when you have a team that buys into what you're trying to do and believes in the culture you're trying to create," Hallenbeck said of GC's record-breaking season. "They're all playing hard, practicing hard, and putting the team first."
Hagerstown drilled the Lakers, 19-3 in five innings, in Sunday's opener, but GC returned the favor with a 16-4 rout of the Hawks in the nightcap. The split left the Lakers (35-14 overall, 24-8 division) two games up in the loss column on Hagerstown (36-13, 20-10) in the race for second place in NJCAA Division II Region 20-West.
"Taking 3-out-of-4 on the road – we'll take that for sure," Hallenbeck said of the weekend successes, which increased his team's chances of obtaining one of the first-round playoff byes that go to the top two teams in the division.
The Lakers also benefited from Monday's stunning, doubleheader sweep by Community College of Allegheny County (11-32, 9-25) over division leader Frederick Community College (42-8, 26-6).
CCAC's 11-1 and 9-8 wins put the Lakers back into the division title race, reducing Frederick's lead over Garrett to two games. GC could win the regular-season crown by sweeping its final two doubleheaders against Allegany College of Maryland and Frederick.
Hallenbeck said his team is "taking everybody's best shot."
"We saw Allegany's number one [pitcher] last week, Montgomery's number one on Saturday, and Hagerstown's number one on Sunday," said Hallenbeck, observing that from his point of view "playoff baseball started last Wednesday."
Garrett had to overcome a 2-0 deficit to beat Montgomery in Sunday's opener to break the school record with its 33rd win of the season. Angel Oquendo (home run, three RBI) and Brandyn Gonzalez (double, two runs) each had two hits, while Bryce Madden (4-1) allowed no earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in five innings.
Greg Eddy pitched two scoreless innings to close out the Raptors in Game 1.
The Lakers then blew out to a 9-0 lead in the nightcap as Parker Ferraro (3-for-3, two runs, five RBI) and Brandyn Gonzalez (2-for-3) each slammed home runs. Stefan Machkovski (2-1) pitched six scoreless innings, permitting three hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
Hagerstown 19, GC 3; GC 16, Hagerstown 4
Hagerstown, MD – Kyle Lore (2-for-4, triple, two runs) drove in five runs, Griffin Lowman (double, run, three RBI) had three hits, and Aidan Grudzinski was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI to lead Hagerstown's 15-hit attack in Sunday's opener.
The Hawks scored 13 first-inning runs, getting 10 of them before Garrett recorded a single out.
Undefeated Peyton Castellow (8-0) allowed no runs over the first four innings to claim the victory.
"After Game 1, I just told the team that if we didn't come out and play in Game 2, we were pretty much going to be a third or fourth seed [in the divisional playoffs]," said GC head coach Eric Hallenbeck.
The nightcap was an entirely different story as the Lakers took advantage of eight hits, 10 walks, five hit batsmen, and three Hagerstown errors to claim the split. GC built 5-1 and 6-3 leads before blowing the game open with 10 runs over the last two innings.
Brandyn Gonzalez (two runs, four RBI, two walks) and Noah Broadwater (three RBI) each hit three-run homers as part of a seven-run sixth inning. Broadwater's homer was Garrett's 50th of the season in 49 games played.
Najib Duversaint scored four times without getting a base hit, thanks in large part to three free passes.
Conner Blake, the second of four GC pitchers, improved to 5-1 with the win. He allowed two runs on two hits with two walks and a strikeout in 2 2/3 innings.
PSC 9, Garrett 6
McHenry, MD – Potomac State College of West Virginia University overcame a 5-1, sixth-inning deficit last Tuesday as Seth Healy (run, two RBI), Lex Wescott (two runs, RBI), Braden Sloan (run, RBI), and Carson Boober (run, RBI) each had two hits.
Brandyn Gonzalez (two runs) and Christian Harrington each had a double among their two hits and drove in two runs apiece to lead GC.
ACM 4, Garrett 3; Garrett 3, ACM 2
McHenry, MD – Wyatt Slocum's walk-off double to right-center field scored pinch runner Kace Shearer with the winning run in the home seventh last Wednesday as the Lakers won the nightcap to split their doubleheader with Allegany College of Maryland.
Ty Giblin got the winning rally going with a single before being replaced on the bases by Shearer. Angel Oquendo drove in a pair of runs for GC while Ethan Sebold and Stefan Machkovski (1-1) combined on a five-hitter.
Konner Pittman went 4-for-4 with a double and drove in three runs as ACM won last Wednesday's opener. Brandyn Gonzalez homered, walked twice, and drove in two runs for the Lakers in Game 1.
