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| Photo Credit: Adelphi Athletics |
Despite entering the Northeast-10 tournament has a huge underdog, the Adelphi Panthers nearly shocked the league with an impressive postseason run that included three wins over higher ranked opponents. That run came to an end on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to No. 1 ranked Southern New Hampshire.
The Panthers received a great start from sophomore ace John Mulford, who was pitching on three-days rest. Mulford went six innings, allowing two ER on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. He finished the season with a 5-3 record with a 2.93 ERA.
The offense could not mount much of anything. They compiled five hits and struck out nine times. Cole Warren had them off balance and unable to string a rally together. Their best shot was in the ninth inning, when Nick Zito walked to lead off. After Rob Vani flew out on a well-struck ball, Eric Hassell walked on a 3-2 pitch. SNHU’s ace Derrick Sylvester was brought in to put out the fire. He got Brandon Stahl to foul out to the third baseman for the second out. Kyle Ambury, the pinch-hitter for Vincent Sharkey, struck out on three pitches to end the game and the season.
Adelphi had a lot to be proud of. They went from being an afterthought in the tournament to playing for their first NE-10 title since 2011. SNHU was simply a superior team this season and they took home their first conference title.
Two Panthers players were named to the All-Tournament team. Third baseman Rich Mejia compiled a .417 average during the weekend and senior pitcher Matt Abramowitz accrued a 2.08 ERA and a win in his 8.2 innings. The latter kept their season alive with a tremendous performance on Saturday against New Haven. He threw eight shutout innings for his fourth win of the season. The Panthers knocked off their rival 5-2 to end their season.
They also won their next potential-elimination game 7-2 over Stonehill. Senior Steve Bove threw a CG, scattering nine hits, walking none and striking out four. Stonehill committed five errors, shocking for a 30-win team, but the Panthers did hit the ball well; led by Cliff Brantley’s three hits and two runs scored.
In the end, the Panthers finish with a 24-23 record. They will likely place two players on the All-Region team. Mejia and Brantley both narrowly missed hitting .400 for the season–a truly remarkable feat in this era of dominant pitching. They were forces all year; Brantley finished with 76 hits, 34 runs scored, 21 RBI, 24 stolen bases and a .443 OBP. Mejia, despite a knee injury earlier in the season, finished with 64 hits, 23 runs, 40 RBI, more walks than strikeouts (15 to 10) and a .444 OBP.
The pitching staff has an underwhelming 4.33 ERA, but Abramowitz, John Donnelly (six saves), Mulford and TJ Santiago (3.28 ERA as freshman) were tremendous all season for the Panthers.
They will have a tough task in replacing the current crop of seniors, including captain Kevin Hutzel and Brandon Stahl, but they have a young nucleus in place to return to this point next season.
