And the St. Joseph’s Golden Eagles are the 2018 Skyline Conference Champions! pic.twitter.com/XsYIblRhGb
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 6, 2018
Wednesday begins the Skyline Conference postseason, which will run through the weekend and conclude on Sunday at Farmingdale State College. If the regular season was any indication, we will be in for a treat.
Here’s Wednesday’s match ups:
No. 6 College of Mount Saint. Vincent @ No. 3 Old Westbury (4pm)
No. 5 St. Joseph’s-LI @ No. 4 Maritime (7:30pm)
Game 1:
Team AVG:
Mount Saint Vincent: .300
Old Westbury: .279
Runs Per Game:
Mount Saint Vincent: 6.45
Old Westbury: 5.27
Team ERA:
Mount Saint Vincent: 5.94
Old Westbury: 4.83
Team Defense:
Mount Saint Vincent: 71 errors, .947 FLD%
Old Westbury: 49 errors, .960 FLD%
Getting to Know the Dolphins:
The Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins enter with an overall record of 17-20 and 9-9 in Skyline Conference play. They have lost four consecutive games. They have an outstanding team AVG of .300, led by Massapequa 2018 grad Michael Grisanti (.398 AVG, 4 HR, 29 RBI, .487 OBP) and Jake Blinstrub (.353 AVG, 35 runs scored, 32 RBI, 14 stolen bases). Their best starting pitcher has been Hauppauge 2018 grad Peter Sanderson (4-2, 2.85 ERA, 2 CGs) and Amir Nitowski (4-4, 3.55 ERA). They swept Old Westbury in a DH on March 24, but before that the Panthers had defeated them 15-straight times.
Getting to Know the Panthers:
The SUNY Old Westbury Panthers enter with an overall record of 20-14-1 and 12-6 in conference play. They have won five consecutive games. They have a team AVG of .276, but they have four regulars over .300 (John Condon, Peter Capel, Mike Manetta and Brandon Wilson). Capel (36) and Condon (31) have been their biggest run producers. The pitching staff has been much better of late, and it’s especially strong with any of their frontline arms on the hill. Ace Christian Tessitore (3-3, 3.19 ERA, 36.2 IP) has been steady from day one and Adam Heidenfelder (3-1, 1.25 ERA) and Patrick Quinn (3-2, 4.15) have rounded out a solid rotation. Their go-to relievers are Joe Sarni (28.1 IP, 1.91) and Matt Bohenek (24.0 IP, 29 K).
The winner of this game advances to the double elimination format to face No. 1 Farmingdale State at 1pm.
Game 2:
Team AVG:
Maritime: .283
St. Joseph’s: .291
Runs Per Game:
Maritime: 5.62
St. Joseph’s: 5.94
Team ERA:
Maritime: 3.70
St. Joseph’s: 3.90
Team Defense:
Maritime: 63 errors, .951 FLD%
St. Joseph’s: 40 errors, .967 FLD%
Getting to Know the Privateers:
The SUNY Maritime Privateers enter with a record of 21-16 including 11-7 in conference play. They have lost three of their past four games. They have a team AVG of .283 led by Matt Eng (.371 AVG, 30 runs scored, .448 OBP, 33 stolen bases) and Travis Zurita (.323 AVG, 6 HR, 34 RBI, .400 OBP, 11 stolen bases), as well as Adam Mosca (.294 AVG) and Phil Russo (.281).
Statistically, their two best starting pitchers have been senior A.J. Ammirati (2.36 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 45.2 IP) and freshman Niko Concha (2.49 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 43.1 IP). They feel very good about getting into a battle of the bullpens, as they have Skylar Graff (1.23 ERA) and Matt Paghidas (2.79 ERA).
Getting to Know the Golden Eagles:
The St. Joseph’s Golden Eagles enter with a record of 18-16 with a conference record of 9-9. They have won four consecutive games, and they have won two of the past three Skyline Conference championships. The offense has been led by Jesse Nakashian (.380 AVG, .465 OBP), Anthony Raucci (.340 AVG, .448 OBP) and Tyler Sanderson (.321 AVG, .449 OBP). The most impressive aspect of their offense is their plate discipline, they have five regulars with positive K:BB ratios.
Their best starting pitcher has been Hauppauge 2017 grad Tim Woodford (6-1, 4 CG, 0.92 ERA, 49:6 K:BB ratio but their ace is Anthony Papa (2-2, 3.05 ERA) and he will likely get the start. Like Maritime, they feel confident in a battle of the bullpens, due to the presence of Anthony Caminiti who was the winning pitcher in the championship game last year.
Both games will be very competitive, and with it being a one-and-done scenario, we are likely to see both coaches employ all-out bullpen strategies if need be to prevent any crooked innings early on.
