DEMOREST, GA-The York College baseball team closed out their stay at the 2009 Rawlings Southern Classic in Atlanta, GA with a 3-1 win at Piedmont College on Sunday. The Spartans, who started the trip 0-2, level their mark at 2-2 while the Lions fall to 5-5 for the campaign.
    The victory was the 450th in the career of Spartan head coach Paul Saikia.
    The Spartans got on the board in the top of the first as Rob Klinck (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a Kyle Cook (Pylesville, Md./Harford) single and scored when left fielder Jared Moon committed an error on the play.
    The Green and White pushed the lead to 2-0 in the fourth as Matt Monti (Easton, Pa./Easton) singled to lead off the frame. He stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a great piece of situational hitting as Jim Meehan (Mastic, N.Y./Eastport-South Manor Central) went the other way for an RBI ground out to first.
    Those two runs would be enough for senior Matt Austin (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) as the right-hander cruised through the first five innings of play. The Lions finally reached Austin for a run in the sixth inning. The Lions got three consecutive singles to load the bases. Austin got a 6-4-3 double play to allow a run to score but he got out of the inning without any further damage with a flyout to right, ending the Lion threat and Austin’s day.
    The Spartans added a big insurance run in the ninth as Monti singled to lead off the inning. Sophomore Joe Doyle (Stewartstown, Pa./Red Lion) followed with a single on a hit-and-run as Monti moved to third. Meehan then got Monti home as he fought off a pitch to ground out to the pitcher as Piedmont’s Josh McEachin had just one play, getting Meehan at first. Klinck followed Meehan with a single but Doyle was gunned down at the plate ending the Spartan uprising.
    Cook came into the game and nailed down the save for the Spartans as he tossed a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts for his first save of the year. Freshman KC Beshore (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land) relieved Austin and tossed two solid innings, allowing two hits with a strikeout in his stint. Austin earned the win as he allowed just one run as he scattered nine hits over his six innings of work. Austin improves to 1-0 with the victory.
    Alex Beebe took the loss for the Lions as he allowed two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in six innings. He falls to 0-1 with the loss.
    Offensively, Monti led the Spartans as he was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Meehan drove in a pair of runs in three at-bats while Klinck was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
    Corey Lindsey, Jared Vermilya, Justin Vorherr, and Brandon Hitch each had two hits for Piedmont. Vermilya scored the lone run for the Lions while Lindsey and Zac Stein each had a double for the game’s lone extra base hits.
    The Spartans are now off until Sunday, March 1 when the Spartans travel to Myrtle Beach to play four days in the sun of South Carolina. York faces Catholic University at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon. York will play Catholic twice during the trip and will also play Eastern University twice in the four days in Myrtle Beach. 

GAME BOX