By Jesse Borek
FARMINGDALE, N.Y.—–Much like the elongated winter within context of Saturday’s pristine conditions, whatever happened on Saturday afternoon between Farmingdale State and Mount Saint Vincent’s gives the brain permanent sunburn.
In the opener of the doubleheader, the Dolphins from the Riverdale section of the Bronx laid a beating on the Farmingdale Rams, 19-8. If possible, it felt as if the score was even more inflated than that.
Just to numb the senses and remind us all of baseball’s depravity, the Rams went on to win the backend of the twin bill 2-0. Because, of course they did.
The numbers are gaudy—for everyone. There were six combined errors, 29 hits, 27 runs, 15 walked batters, and 20 men left on base.
Farmingdale would put up a three-spot in the first, just to see the lead erased by a MSV 8-run second inning. To their detriment, that wasn’t even the Dolphins’ highest output for a given inning in the opener. That would come later in the fifth when MSV would flex their muscles and drop the ol’ 10-spot on the Rams.
Freshman starter Kevin O’Connor would barely make it out of the first on his way to his first loss at the collegiate level, but he was hardly the only one at fault.
Five more Rams pitchers would scrap together the final 18 outs, but it was especially tough for juniors Kevin Martinez and Matthew Fick. The prior of the two would face five batters, retire none, and allow five runs despite giving up just a single hit. The latter, saw 15 Dolphins dig into the box and would get just three out. In one inning of work, he gave up nine runs (six earned) on seven hits and two walks.
It was quite the day for senior outfielder Michael Marino,who had the game-winning RBI in the second contest, along with a multi-hit performance in the opener. Through Saturday, Marino was hitting an absurd .507 with 18 stolen bases while hitting at the heart of the Rams order.
Senior Ryan Levine would have Farmingdale’s only three-hit game on the afternoon, going 3-for-4 in the opener.
To drive the nail home, the Dolphins never pulled their starters during the opening contest. All eight players finished out the game, with eight of the nine getting hits, and the one that didn’t going 0-for-1 with four walks and two runs scored. Six different MSV players would have multi-hit games, including Cristian Lynch from Mastic, and Keith Schroeder from Riverhead.
Seeing a combined 29 hits over the seven innings the game took to complete, both teams were understandably tired from raking the ball over the yard.
In an uncharacteristically tidy 2-0 victory on the backend, junior southpaw Kevin Cashman got the win in what was the Rams’ third shutout victory of the year.
Whether or not the Rams depleted pitching staff will need rest really won’t matter, as the harsh winter dramatically altered their schedule. They’ll be right back at it tomorrow for a doubleheader at home against Purchase, beginning at noon.
