(Photo Credit: Jeff Wilson)
For the first time since 2001, the Molloy Lions are the ECC Baseball Champions. pic.twitter.com/hRcUWz4XQF
— ECCNetwork (@ECCSportsNet) May 22, 2021
Molloy was the last college team standing on Long Island and for a brief time, it appeared they may just be duplicating New York Tech‘s 2019 season and making a trip to Cary, NC for the Division-II College World Series.
Southern New Hampshire had other plans.
The (Division-II) beasts of the northeast defeated the Lions, 9-2, in a winner-take-all East Region Championship to advance to their third College World Series (2012, 2018) and it came while playing in their fifth consecutive Regional Championship. Molloy had defeated SNHU on Monday night, 8-3, behind an outstanding relief outing by RHP Ryan Karp (5 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R). It presented a do-or-die scenario, but Molloy simply didn’t have the arms left after playing in six regional games this weekend including two wins from ace Tim Panetta and another CG by sophomore sensation Charlie Cucchiara.
No matter how you slice it, 2021 was an outstanding season for the Lions. It was their time – with virtually their entire lineup and pitching staff returning from 2020 – and they took full advantage. They defeated the perennial ECC powerhouse, St. Thomas Aquinas, in the championship by the score of 2-1 to receive the automatic bid into the East Regional. Entering that tournament is no small task, having to face some true powerhouses such as Franklin Pierce and Southern New Hampshire as well as up-and-coming programs like Goldey-Beacom.
They finished with a record of 25-11 and advanced further than any team in program history. Here are their team leaders:
AVG: Sean Hogan (.394)
Hits: Sean Hogan (52)
Runs: Peter Theodorellis (41)
RBI: Matt Overton (38)
SLG: Garrett Scavelli (.547)
OBP: Sean Hogan (.478)
OPS: Garrett Scavelli (1.009)
Wins: Tim Panetta (7)
IP: Tim Panetta (68.1)
ERA: Charlie Cucchiara (1.80)
WHIP: Charlie Cucchiara (0.87)
Ks: Tim Panetta (87)
