Lites Lands on CACC Weekly Honor Roll
New Haven, Conn. – (5/6/2013) – Batting .500 (3-for-6) in Chestnut Hill College’s final two regular season games, against West Chester University on Tuesday, April 30 and at Army on Sunday, May 5, junior center fielder
Desmond Lites (Philadelphia, Pa.) earned a mention on the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Weekly Report Honor Roll. Lites was 1-for-3 and scored during a six-run fifth inning against the Golden Rams before going 2-for-3 and scoring the Griffins lone run against the Black Knights.
Despite a six-run fifth inning, Chestnut Hill College (17-25) could not keep pace with the bats of West Chester University, who scored 14 runs on 16 hits in a 14-6 victory. Trailing 7-0 after the top of the fifth inning, the Griffins used a single, a walk, and a hit batsman to ignite a six-run frame. Senior shortstop
Joseph Crane (Churchville, Pa.) led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single to third base. He quickly advanced to third with a failed pick-off attempt and then scored, along with Lites, on a two-run single from senior catcher
Timothy DiMonte (Downingtown, Pa.), 7-2. A walk and a hit batsman brought another Griffin home, 7-3, and forced a pitching change before freshman designated hitter
Timothy DiMonte (Sewell, N.J.) cleared the bases with a double to left field, 7-6. Unfortunately, the Griffins were unable to add any more runs in the frame or the contest, as the Golden Rams bats eventually went back to work for seven more runs over the final four innings, 14-6.
On the final day of regular season competition, the Griffins challenged Army through nine innings of entertaining baseball. The Black Knights scored first and advanced their lead to 4-0 before DiMonte drove in a late Griffin run with an eighth-inning grounder to the home shortstop, 4-1. An Army pitching change stimulated the Griffin bats. Lites led off the inning with an infield single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch after another Black Knight call to the bullpen looked to off-set the Griffins lineup. The move failed as the Griffins advanced Lites to third base with walk and a sacrifice bunt before he scored on a DiMonte ground-out, 4-1, later in the inning. But, that was as much as the Griffins could muster against the Black Knight bullpen, which closed out the contest without any further damage.
Lites finishes the 2013 season with a .270 (38-for-141) batting average. He leads the Griffins in runs (27) and stolen bases (20-for-27, 74.1%) while also providing 11 runs-batted-in (RBI) and 23 walks on a .362 slugging percentage and a .380 one-base percentage.
The baseball team finished the 2013 regular season at 17-25 overall and 10-10 in CACC play as they make CACC postseason for the third time in four seasons. #6 Chestnut Hill College will travel to #3 Concordia College (N.Y.) for a 2:00 p.m. CACC Championship Tournament Opening Round game on Tuesday, May 7.
