Cresson -- The Mount Aloysius Baseball team opened up the 2020 campaign on Sunday afternoon, with a twin-bill against the Chatham Cougars at Calandra-Smith Field. They were able to come away with two victories, 4-3 and 4-2.

Game 1
- Chatham struck first off Mounties' starter, Michael McCourt (Mullica Hill, NJ, St. Augustine Prep). They were able to score two in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. McCourt issued two walks in the inning, both of which came around to score.
- After McCourt turned in a scoreless top of the second, Mount Aloysius pushed their first run across. Brayden Lackey (New Cumberland, PA, Cedar Cliff) reached on a bunt single, which moved Ryan Leonard (James Creek, PA, Tussey Mountain) to third base. With first and third, Freshman Troy Emert (Rockwood, PA, Rockwood) picked up his first career RBI on a safety squeeze, making it 2-1, Chatham.
- Douglas Cannon (Valencia, PA, Mars Area) came in to relieve McCourt, to begin the third inning. Following his first scoreless inning, Catcher Douglas Smith (Massapequa, NY, Massapequa ) drove in Cody Smith (Loysville, PA, West Perry), as well as himself, on his first homerun of the season. The homerun put the Mounties up 3-2.
- Cannon's only run of the game came in the fifth inning, via a wild pitch, which would tie the game at three. Cannon only allowed two hits in his five innings.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Emert led off the frame with a single.  followed him by moving him to second base, on a sacrifice bunt. Jeremy Iellimo (Arnold, PA, Valley Area) moved Emert to third with his first hit of the game, a single. Cody Smith ended the game in style, with an RBI single following Iellimo's hit, giving the Mounties their first win of the season, 4-3.

Game 2
- The first inning was made eventful as each team got on the scoreboard. Chatham scored in the top of the first, as they put runners on all bags against starter, Dylan Coyle (Canonsburg, PA, Canon-McMillan). The Mounties countered by scoring twice in the bottom of the inning. Iellimo led off the inning with a triple, scoring on a Cody Smith groundout. Then Doug Smith scored after reaching on an error by Cougar Shortstop, Cameron Moeller.
- Chatham tied the game in Coyle's final inning, when Andrew Clark tripled to right-center to lead off the inning. Clark scored on a sac fly to left field during the next at-bat.
- In the bottom of the fourth, Tyler Suder (Boswell, PA, North Star) reached base with a two-out single. He would go on to steal second, as well as reach third on a wild pitch. With Suder on third, Iellimo hit a ball over the first base bag that landed just out of reach of three Cougar players, which allowed Suder to score from third. Iellimo would be thrown out at first, after he strayed too far towards second base following the hit and ending the inning.
- Nick Lagnese (North Huntingdon, PA, Norwin) began the top of the fifth inning in relief for the Mounties, trying to preserve the win for Coyle. Lagnese would go on to allow only two hits in three innings of work, to earn him the save.
- Doug Smith added an insurance run to the Mountie lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, with his second homerun of the day, to left field. The homerun gave Mount Aloysius a 4-2 lead, which would end up being the final score.

Highlights
- Doug Smith drove in three runs on the day. He also stole a base and threw out multiple runners.
- Iellimo led the team with three hits over the two games. Lackey, Cody Smith, and Doug Smith were the other Mounties that tallied multiple hits.
- The four pitchers that took the mound for Mount Aloysius on the day, produced the most Innings Pitched from any returners, last season. McCourt pitched 67 innings in 2019, Coyle threw 65.1, Cannon threw 54, and Lagnese tallied 32.2.
- Emert started his first collegiate game, as well as collected his first hit and RBI. The freshman, from Rockwood, started both games at third base.

Chatham Connection
- Chatham's Head Baseball Coach, DJ Cannon, is the older brother of Mount Aloysius RHP, Douglas Cannon. It was the older Cannon's Head Coaching debut, as he was hired at Chatham this past fall. The two both graudated from Mars High School. DJ was formerly an assistant coach at Seton Hill.

Up Next
- Mount Aloysius will take an almost two-week hiatus from the diamond, before traveling to Stevenson on Saturday, March 7. Stevenson will have a bit more experience on the season, as they are scheduled to have nine games in before the March 7th matchup.