2001-2002 CUNYAC / SPRINT PCS Baseball Championship

John Jay Chomps Down the Championship in the 10^TH

STATEN ISLAND, NY - Maybe having two weeks off between games is not so bad after all, as John Jay College scratched a 9-8 win over the College of Staten Island on the losers’ field to send the Dolphins to their fourth straight loss. John Jay College was the more spirited team in the CUNY Athletic Conference / Sprint PCS Championship, and the team’s determination was like a beacon of hope for the fledgling program, ending the 2002 season with the school’s first CUNYAC title in four seasons.

Last year at this time the Bloodhounds (12-26) were in the midst of hiring the team’s third new head coach in three seasons following a 1-22 campaign. In came Dan Palumbo, a New Jersey native with a wealth of collegiate experience and the turnaround began.

“I couldn’t be prouder of any bunch of guys,” said Palumbo. “The way they kept bouncing back from adversity shows that they couldn’t be kept down. They have a lot to be proud of this season.”

Mother Nature was to blame for John Jay’s two-week layoff, postponing this CUNY final twice (on May 2 & 9), and it would have been longer if the Dolphins (26-13) were not slumping. CSI benefited from the CUNY rainouts, winning the Knickerbocker Conference semifinals, putting the team one game away from their first-ever NCAA Cham-pionship. But the Dolphins faltered, losing to Stevens Tech 3-1, and then falling in the ECAC Championship semifi-nals, 18-5, to FDU-Madison, allowing the CUNY Championship to be played the next day.

The Bloodhounds pounced first in the game, loading the bases in the second inning with no outs against CSI ace Andrew Parrino (Staten Island, NY) when junior Paul Torre (Queens, NY) slapped a single to right field for a 1-0 lead. The next batter 2B Adris Fortunato (Bronx, NY) singled to left center clearing the bases, giving John Jay a commanding 4-0 lead.

But Staten Island battled back, scoring six runs over the next four innings, highlighted by a two-run single by senior Tom Consolmagno (Staten Island, NY) in the bottom of the fifth inning that knocked out starter Kevin Kozub (Lindenhurst, NY). Kozub, a four-year pitcher for the Bloodhounds was a freshman on the 1999 CUNY Championship team that went to the NCAA Tournament. Palumbo then brought in ace freshman Kevin Anza (Bronx, NY), who limited CSI to two runs and five baserunners over the next 5 1/3 innings.

John Jay tied the score at 6-6 in the top of the next frame on a double by Torre followed by three consecutive singles by Anza, 3B Corey Johnson (Ontario, OR) and CF Steve Vera (Bronx, NY). The Bloodhounds took the lead again in the eighth when Johnson singled to left field and was brought home on a single by freshman Mike Ramirez. Ramirez (Poughkeepsie, NY) later scored on an error to stretch the score to 8-6.

The home team kept hopes alive in the bottom of the ninth with a rally of their own, when leadoff batter Michael Guarneri (Staten Island, NY) scored his third run of the contest on a double by sophomore Eric Zinke (Staten Island, NY). Sophomore Russell Stefanski (Staten Island, NY) followed with his fourth hit of the game and freshman Tom Wohlfit plated Zinke to send the game into extra innings for the second time in three years.

But the ‘Hounds would not be denied. Johnson, who led off the top of the tenth with a walk advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third base on a balk, scored the winning run on a Ramirez single to right center field.

“I gathered myself and made sure that I put the ball in play” said Ramirez, the Tournament Most Valuable Player. “It was a rough, rough game. But that’s the heart this team has showed all season.”

It was the second straight season that CSI lost the CUNYAC final after going 6-0 during the regular season. The Dolphins fell to Baruch, 5-3 in last year’s final at Yankee Stadium.

--CUNYAC--