RAIN HALTS OPENING GAME OF THE NJCAA REGION XXI TOURNAMENT WITH COLTS LEADING IN THE NINTH

Ryan Pozo turned in a heroic perfromance on the mound and Connor Luckie's RBI groundout in the eighth gave Middlesex College a 5-4 lead as the Colts are holding on to a 6-4 lead over Brookdale Community College in a game that has been halted due to rain with one out in the bottom of the ninth in the opening game of the 2022 NJCAA Region XIX Baseball Tournament.

After nursing a 1-0 lead, Middlesex (37-18) fell behind 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth, but Pozo did not allow another run the rest of the way as the sixth-seeded Colts battled back against third-seeded Brookdale.

Middlesex got on the board in the first when Braden Ramirez (Freshman/Middlesex, NJ) drove home Chirstian Petrillo (Freshman/North Brunswick, NJ) with an RBI single after Petrillo stole two bases.

The Jersey Blues (32-18) scored four times in the bottom of the fifth, but Middlesex answered right back with three runs in the top of the sixth.

After Pozo kept Brookdale off the board in the bottom of the frame, Luckie drove home Christopher Born (Freshman/South Plainfield, NJ) with the go-ahead run.

The Colts tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Petrillo scored on a wild pitch before an incoming rain storm overtook the field.

The game was halted in the bottom of the ninth with one out and two runners on base for Brookdale. The game is scheduled to be resumed tomorrow prior to Game 2 of the best-of-three series.