OAK CREEK, Wis. – The Milwaukee Area Technical College baseball team closed out its 2024-25 regular season Saturday by tying the school record for most wins (34) in a single-season after earning a home series split with Prairie State during its Sophomore Day.

The Stormers won Game 1 in dominant fashion, winning 13-1 in five innings before going on to drop the second game 6-1 in seven innings. The split left MATC to conclude the regular season with a 34-21 overall record, including a 23-19 record in Region 4 play. The Stormers' 34 wins tied the 2022' Stormers squad, which went 34-18-1, for the most wins in a single-season in school history.

"It feels good to tie the school record for most wins in a single-season, but at the end of the day, it's just all about continuing to compete and win both on and off the field," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "I told the guys 'it's great to break records and of course you want to, but we have bigger aspirations than just the win total'...the big thing now with the regular season being done is to get ready for the postseason."

Prior to the first pitch, MATC took a brief moment to honor its sophomore class – Carlito Collins, Camdin Jansen, Ryan Quello, Michael Merline, Luke Klekamp, Justin Schnell, Max Mueller, Jaiden Jung, Josh Barndt, Mitchel Meinke, Peyton Schumann, Marco Falletti, Robert Crawford III, Zach Johnson, Jake Catalano, George Benske, and Jake Hall – for all their contributions to the program over the last couple of seasons.

"This sophomore class has been exactly what you want in a program," Bounds said. "They came in here, not only with a new regime coming in, with this being my first head coaching job, but also moving from [NJCAA] Division III to [NJCAA] Division II here at MATC and they've done a great job doing it with class and respect…I've appreciated everything they've done for us and can't thank them enough for setting the standard high for what we want here in MATC's baseball program."

Game 1: Stormers clicking on all cylinders
Milwaukee Tech played nearly perfect baseball within all three phases of the game during its 12-run victory over the Pioneers in five innings.

The Stormers totaled 11 hits for a dozen RBIs at the plate, had no errors in the field, and got more than solid outings from starter Jake Catalano and reliever George Benske.

"Overall we did a great job and that definitely was a team effort there," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "We did it in all facets of the game. We had no errors, 11 hits in four innings worth of hitting, and [Jake] Catalano and [George] Benske did their jobs on the mound there."

Catalano made the most of his final start at home. The second-year righty surrendered just three hits and one earned run over five innings, striking out five and walking one. He also twirled two separate 1-2-3 innings in the top of the first and fourth innings.

"The biggest thing for me was to just get out there and pitch well since it was Sophomore Day because this is the last time playing here and pitching here," Catalano said of his performance. "I was just blessed to have the opportunity to pitch one more time and having it happen on Sophomore Day was really special."

At the plate, MATC went on to put up a five-spot in the first, followed by three runs in the second, and five runs in the third. In the top of the first, Marco Falletti doubled, scoring one run, Carlito Collins tripled, scoring three runs, and Bryant Armijo-Martin singled, scoring one run. The Stormers added three more runs in the third off three hits that were aided by a walk to Robert Crawford III. Lucas Hernandez hit a sac-fly, scoring one run, and Cole Wissen tripled, scoring a pair of runs.

MATC took advantage of a bases-loaded no-out situation to open the bottom of the third, where they went on to plate another five-spot. Hernandez doubled, scoring two runs, Camdin Jansen walked, scoring a run, and Crawford III singled, scoring a run.

"I feel like the guy's approaches were good," Bounds said of his team's offense in Game 1. "They've been seeing the ball well and so you just want to keep that up here going into the postseason next weekend."

Leading 13-0 to begin the fifth, Catalano allowed back-to-back leadoff singles before being pulled for Benske. In relief of Catalano, Benske tossed one inning, giving up zero runs on no hits, but allowed a run to cross on an RBI groundout.

STAT BOOK (Game 1)
Collins went 1-for-3 with a three-RBI triple to help lead the Stormers at the plate. Crawford III went 1-for-1 with two walks, two RBIs and a pair of runs. Wissen drove in two runs on a triple. Falletti collected a pair of hits, one RBI and scored twice. Easton Morehouse went 2-for-2 with a walk, one double, and two runs scored. Hernandez chipped in an RBI sac-fly and a two-RBI double. Catalano nearly went the distance on the bump, allowing one earned run on three hits over four innings of work to improve to 3-4 on the mound.

Game 2: Stormers unable to overcome early deficit
After completely dominating Game 1, MATC came into Game 2 flat-footed and ultimately dropped the nightcap, 6-1 in seven innings.

"Sometimes that happens whenever you feel like you did your job in Game 1, guys kind of take the foot off the gas pedal and just go through the motions there all of a sudden," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "Prairie State head coach Deandre Gilmore does an amazing job over there and I knew they were going to give us a battle…they did an amazing job taking the wind out of our sails there in Game 2."

Unlike Game 1, the Pioneers were the ones who found themselves as the early aggressors after hitting a couple of two-run homers off MATC starter Josh Barndt. Barndt surrendered a leadoff single in the top of the first that was immediately followed with a homer that gave Prairie State a quick 2-0 lead. In the ensuing inning in the top of the second, Barndt surrendered another two-run blast after giving up a leadoff walk to begin the inning.

"I think the guys came out and all of  a sudden we give up a two-spot in the first and then another two-spot in the second, and all of a sudden the guys start getting a little worried," Bounds said of his team's start to Game 2. "All of a sudden it takes us out of our game."

Outside of Robert Crawford III's two-out RBI single in the third that cut the deficit to 4-1, the Stormers failed to convert on multiple opportunities with runners in scoring position. MATC had scoring opportunities in each of the first, third, fourth, and sixth innings, but only managed to plate one run across in the third.

Its best missed opportunity came in the sixth, where the Stormers had Jake Hall (single) on second and Bryant Armijo-Martin (walk) on third with Easton Morehouse at the plate with two-outs. Morehouse eventually smacked a line shot to center, but Pioneers' centerfielder Nathan Odaira made a diving catch to effectively end the inning.

"You tip your cap to Prairie State's center fielder because he made a heck of a play there on Morehouse's line drive," Bounds said. "It just wasn't our day there in Game 2."

Barndt's day came to a close after just two innings of work. He gave up four earned runs on four hits while striking out two and walking a pair to earn the loss. Jakeb Lequia tossed four innings of relief, allowing two earned runs on three hits with one strikeout. Justin Schnell closed out the seventh by firing a scoreless frame with zero hits given up.

STAT BOOK (Game 2)
Crawford III went 1-for-3 with an RBI single to pace the Stormers' offense. Camdin Jansen added two singles in four plate appearances. Hall recorded two singles, which was one more single than teammates Lucas Hernandez and Morehouse. Barndt (2-2) suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs on four hits over two innings of work.

UP NEXT
MATC concluded its 2024-25 regular season with a 34-21 overall record, including a 23-19 record in Region 4 play. The Stormers will wait to find out their first postseason opponent before opening the NJCAA Region 4 Tournament, which begins play on May 9.]