Once upon a time Farmingdale State College was the type of program that was in a transitional phase. They had recently switched to a four-year school and were no longer regarded as an agricultural school.
On the baseball diamond they were anything but dominant. In 2005 they posted a 7-22 record, including 5-17 inside the Skyline Conference.
Fast forward to 2013 and the Rams, led by Keith Osik, have captured their sixth consecutive Skyline Conference. They have not lost a game in the playoffs since 2009.
They defeated Old Westbury 2-1 in a non-traditional pitchers duel. The starter for the Rams, Cameron Kitt lasted only two innings, despite holding the Panthers to one unearned run. Kevin Martinez took over and fired three hitless innings, which allowed the Rams to take 2-1 lead on a fielder’s choice.
He gave way to Alex Weingarten who continued his terrific freshman season by closing the door for the final four innings to secure the win. In the eighth and ninth innings he allowed the tieing runs to get to scoring position but made a huge pitch when he had to and induced inning ending double plays on both occasions.
The Rams, despite their powerful offense were led by the pitching all season. They compiled the best ERA in the conference at 3.25. They were able to replace Chris Phelan and CJ Bula with Mike Dolce, who has led the way with a 5-0 record and a 0.57 ERA in 47 IP.
The Rams will now head to the Regionals in Ithaca, NY as they will attempt to make it back to the Division-III World Series in Appleton, WI for the first time since 2009.
