An Historic Day for Mercy Baseball Ends in Triumph, 7-6
An Historic Day for Mercy Baseball Ends in Triumph,
7-6
Linescore
In an historic afternoon in Dobbs Ferry, the Mercy College
baseball team demonstrated the fighting spirit that pushed them
into the East Coast Conference Championships with a
come-from-behind 7-6 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College on
Senior Day. The win gives the Mavericks the same 13-17
conference record as Dowling College in the standings; however, by
capturing the season series from the Golden Lions earlier in the
year, Mercy claims the tiebreaker.
Prior to the first pitch today, eight members of the Mavericks
were honored for their service to the program. They were
Marc Dern (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream
North), Michael Grassano (Valley Stream,
N.Y./Valley Stream South), Matt
Mareno (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison), Steve
Merslich (Flushing, N.Y./Francis Lewis), Ken
Mundy (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream North),
Justin Muscarella (Plainedge,
N.Y./Island Trees), Vinny
Tesoriero (Glen Head, N.Y./North Shore) and Kenny
Tyson (Miami, Fla./Ulster C.C.).
The atmosphere carried over into the start of the game as Mercy
scored twice in the first inning. It was two juniors
who keyed the scoring for the Mavericks. Michael Ferrante (Long Beach, N.Y.)
led off the game with a single and advanced to third after
Muscarella and Matt
Walsh (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys)
walked to load the bases. Ferrante came in on a groundout by
Graig Lauricella (North Massapequa,
N.Y./Plainedge). Two batters later Mundy drove in Muscarella
with a single.
The Spartans pushed four runs across in the second to take a 4-2
lead off of emergency starter Billy
Dring (Mahopac, N.Y./Lakeland). The score
remained there until the bottom of the fifth, when a Walsh single
plated Mike Gianzero (Highland Mills,
N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) with Mercy's third run.
STAC countered in the sixth, scoring twice to build a 6-3
lead. Senior southpaw Tyson came out of the bullpen to retire
the three batters he faced and bridge the gap to freshman
Tom Cummings (Coatesville, Pa./Bishop
Shanahan). Cummings and Tyson combined for 3.1 innings of
scoreless relief and the freshman picked up his first career win.
With the Mavericks running out of chances, the game entered the
eighth. The first three batters of the frame, Julio
Torres (Harlingen, Texas/Harlingen South), Mundy and
freshman Andrew Bock (Malverne, N.Y./Valley
Stream North), all got base hits to load the bases. Dern then
scored Torres after getting hit with the pitch. Two batters
later, Ferrante drove in Mundy with a single to right.
Muscarella followed Ferrante with a sacrifice that plated Bock with
the tying run. Walsh followed Muscarella with a single that
was misplayed by the outfielder and Dern scored the eventual
winning run.
In the ninth, the Mavericks put the game away on a double play
that was hit to Torres and turned by Ferrante. The
victory completed the sweep of the series and gave the Mavericks
baseball team their first post-season appearance since they were in
the NYCAC in 1990.
In the upcoming ECC Championship, Mercy travels to Long Island
to take on C.W. Post on Thursday, May 6. The first pitch is
scheduled 3:00 p.m. The three-day, double-elimination championship
is hosted by Dowling College at their complex, which is off of exit
68 of the Long Island Expressway.
