Contributed Story
VALHALLA — March 28, 2008 — The Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) Generals dropped their Mid Hudson Conference opener on Tuesday with a 10-6 loss to Westchester Community College.
The two teams are slated to square off in the second game of their series at 3:30 p.m. today in Valhalla.
SCCC (3-5, 0-1 MHC) committed seven errors in the field, which led to five unearned runs on the afternoon.
Mike Prunka (1-2) suffered the loss for the Generals after allowing seven hits over 4 and 2/3 innings.
“Mike was not sharp early,” SCCC Coach Mike Marra said. “He hit the first batter of the game and our defense collapsed behind him and before you could blink, we were down 3-0 after one inning.”
The Generals cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth inning on Ray Valdez’s run-scoring double.
But Westchester CC (5-4, 1-0 MHC) stretched its lead in the fifth inning. Ricky Gundert belted a three-run home run off Prunka, pushing the Westcos’ advantage to 8-2.
The Generals offense was led by Eddie Pagan, who was 4-for-5, and Ray Valdez, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.
“Our defense was horrible today,” Marra lamented. “You can’t give a team nine extra outs in a game and expect to win.”