HAMPTON, VA. -- Devorn Lake's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th inning scored Chris Kennedy with the winning run as the Apprentice School came back to defeat College of The Albemarle 8-7 in 12 innings on Saturday in the 2011 season opener.
That tied the longest game under head coach Bryan Cave as the Builders went 12 innings with Chowan on April 18, 2006 and Frostburg State on April 11, 1992.
Albemarle (0-2) scored all seven of its runs in the second inning with J.J. Allen doubling in Matt Ittner with the final run of that outburst. From that point, the Builders threw 10 innings of shutout ball allowing only four hits in the process.
Apprentice School started the comeback in the fourth as with two outs, Lake walked and scored on a double from Andrew Yonta. They scored another run in the fifth inning as with two outs, Kevin Sias singled to left-center to score Chris Scarola who reached on a fielder's choice to cut the deficit to 7-2.
In the eighth, the Builders tied the game scoring five runs. Yonta opened the inning with a solo home run to left field. Chris Kennedy doubled in Chris Aldridge who was hit by a pitch while Josh Tuck followed with a double to score Scarola to cut the lead to 7-5. Sias followed with a two-run single to score Tuck and Kennedy to tie the game 7-all.
In the 12th, Kennedy had a one out single and advanced to second on a Tuck single. Sais was intentionally walked and Lake followed with his game-winner.
Freshman Corey Gallaway came in to start the ninth inning and struck out 10 batters in four innings. That marked the higest total for a Builder pitcher since Dallas Wagner struck out 11 against Penn State Abington on March 1, 2009. He closed the game striking out the side in the 11th inning and the final two of the game to earn the win.
Kennedy, Tuck and Yonta each had three hits for the Builders. Sias was 2-for-6 with three RBIs while Yonta drove in a pair. With his single in the first inning, Kennedy extended his hitting streak to 25 games as he closed out his freshman season with hits in the final 24 games of the year.
Apprentice School will start its annual Builder Invitational on Thursday afternoon with a 3 pm start against NCAA Division II Bloomsburg University at War Memorial Stadium.