Head Coach George Valesente reached another milestone in his storied career at the helm of the baseball team when the Bombers defeated Pomona-Pitzer College yesterday by a score of 9-5 in Claremont, Calif. The win was the 1,000th of Valesente’s 40-year coaching career, which has included stints at SUNY-Brockport, SUNY-New Paltz and SUNY-Maritime.

Junior Pat Lemmo pitched a complete game for the Bombers, improving to 3–0 on the season. He gave up three runs in the first inning, but held the Sagehens scoreless until the ninth inning when they scored twice.

The Blue and Gold took the lead for good in the fourth inning when junior first baseman Rocco DeBlasiis scored on a groundout by sophomore left fielder Luke Stark. The South Hill squad added four insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning to secure the victory.

Senior second baseman Matt Keller led the Bombers with three RBIs and eight different Bombers scored a run.

The team’s game against Cal Lutheran University scheduled for today was canceled because of rain. It concludes its spring trip with a game against University of Redlands at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in Redlands, Calif. With a victory, the Bombers will post the best spring break trip record in the program’s history.

Valesente has won 909 of his 1,000 games as a head coach with the Bombers. A graduate of the college’s Class of 1966, he is one of only four active coaches in Division III baseball to have reached the milestone. His teams have never had a losing season.