Quite a weekend it was filled with historic offensive performances for one school, crucial double header sweeps for others and one high-scoring near-miraculous comeback today in Garden City. We covered Molloy v LIU Post yesterday, and Adelphi v NYIT, Farmingdale v Mount St. Mary’s today. Here’s how the local programs line up:
Division-I:
- St. John’s (Record: 28-11, Trending UP)
2. Fordham (Record: 27-14-1, Trending UP)
3. Hofstra (Record: 21-15, Trending UP)
4. Stony Brook (Record: 23-19, Trending UP)
Analysis: St. John’s has taken their play to another level recently. They set a program-record on Saturday by scoring 34 runs against Xavier on 31 hits. It was the first time they eclipsed 30 runs in a game since 2010. They are now averaging nearly 7 runs per game and 11-1 in conference. They will host Iona and Liberty this week. Fordham recorded a sweep over Saint Joseph’s. They won all four games this week. They will host Hofstra on Tuesday night and Dayton this weekend. Hofstra has won seven consecutive games to save their season after their playoff chances were on life support just over a week ago. They swept William & Mary after another lights-out shutout by John Rooney on Friday. On Saturday, Rob Weissheier smacked a first inning grand slam to supply all the offense his brother, Matt, would need. And Sunday, a 5-run first and 3-run ninth was the difference. Chris Weiss recorded his seventh save of the season. This week will be a real test as they have Fordham in a non-conference game and first-place Northeastern this weekend. Stony Brook won two of three from Binghamton. They allowed a combined one-run in Saturday’s double header with gems from Brian Herrmann and Greg Marino and today they were defeated as they were looking for the sweep. Consider this: team leaders in batting average with a minimum of 100 at bats 1. Nick Grande (.403) 2. Bobby Honeyman (.353) 3. Michael Wilson (.255). Grande deserves to be considered for America East Player of the Year.
Division-II:
- Molloy (Record: 26-19, Trending UP)
2. LIU Post (Record: 25-17, Trending DOWN)
3. Adelphi (Record: 23-16-1, Trending EVEN)
4. Pace (Record: 15-16-1, Trending EVEN)
5. NYIT (Record: 11-23-1, Trending UP)
6. Queens (Record: 13-25, Trending EVEN
Analysis: Molloy responded from last weekend’s sweep with an impressive and dare-I-say convincing series victory over LIU Post. After a loss Friday night to the unbeatable James Varela (10-0, 2.20 ERA, 102 strikeouts), they swept the DH on Saturday and won 3-2 today. My biggest takeaway from Saturday was the emergence of Kevin Hiss who dominated and is now leading the team with 7 wins and 73.2 IP. He doesn’t overpower, he topped at 84 MPH but mixes it up and the ball cuts very well. Also, their lineup is absurd. The combination of Sean Hogan, Angelo Navetta and Matt Overton has been dynamic. The trio of lefties all have at least 56 hits. The end of Game 1 on Saturday they did pull a rabbit out of their pocket. With runners on 1st & 2nd a double into the left-center field gap looked like a tied ball game. The ball bounced off over the wall, however, which forced the second runner to go back to third base. The next batter, smoked a line drive that Jacob McCarthy made a diving catch to end the game and preserve the win. At the moment, both teams are not as good as St. Thomas Aquinas record wise, who is 30-9 and coming off an appearance in the College World Series. Additionally, they just look destined to return. We will find out in two weeks if they can try to prevent that. As for Adelphi, they won their first three games of the week and were flying high but then were swept today by NYIT at home. Unbelievably, after falling behind 11-2 in the fourth inning, they did make a valiant effort to come back and actually had the tying run on base in the ninth inning but Ryan Kuskowski threw out Lucas Terwilliger to end it.
Division-III:
- Farmingdale (Record: 22-12, Conference: 14-4, Trending UP)
2. St. Joseph’s (Record: 22-14, Conference: 13-5, Trending UP)
3. Maritime (Record: 23-12, Conference: 11-7, Trending UP)
4. USMAA (Record: 24-12, Conference: 11-7, Trending EVEN)
5. Old Westbury (Record: 19-15-1, Conference: 11-7, Trending EVEN)
Analysis: It’s hard to debate the merit of Farmingdale State right now as they shutout previous No. 1 seed Mount St. Mary’s twice today by the scores of 3-0 and 6-0. Same as two weeks ago when they gave the same treatment to St. Joseph’s, they received gems from both David Otero Jr and Matthew Constantine. The bullpen, led by Logan Hicks, has been lights-out and the offense, led by Ernie Geraci, Joe Roche and Anthony Gigante has been timely. St. Joseph’s has won nine in the row. They are hitting .314 as a team and have one of the leading candidates for Skyline Conference Player of the Year in Paul Britt. He has six HR and nobody else has more than 2 on their roster. Maritime got a huge DH sweep over Old Westbury yesterday, with the big win coming on a walk-off by Shane Sullivan to clinch their postseason berth. Old Westbury has done a commendable job given their injuries to the pitching staff. They have even moved Josh Cruz from the lineup to the mound, and he’s leading the team in ERA at 1.93 with 7 saves. The reason they made it this far is their offensive attack. They are well ahead of the pack in terms of hitting. They are hitting .332 as a team with John Condon, Jesse Russo and Liam Slattery all with a chance to finish over .400. Russo has been remarkable, he has a chance to finish his three-year career with a .400 AVG.
As far as my pick for the conference championship, I will go with my preseason pick St. Joseph Golden Eagles. Why? I think they have the most balanced team, and for whatever reason–the No. 1 seed has been a curse in recent years. I will not ignore that. Additionally, they have won nine consecutive games and appear to just be hitting their stride.
