2004 CUNYAC Softball Championship

Staten Island Wins CUNYAC Softball Crown

Staten Island, NY - The College of Staten Island Dolphins earned an automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA Division III Softball Championships after dethroning the Hunter Hawks, the three-time defending CUNYAC champions, 2-1, Friday afternoon at the College of Staten Island. Junior catcher Theresa Tepedino (St. Joseph Villa/Staten Island, NY) belted a go-ahead, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the game for the top-seeded Dolphins.

“The count was full and I knew that if the pitch was anywhere close that I would have to go for it in that situation,” said Tepedino. “I don’t remember the exact location of the pitch but I know that it was somewhere around the plate.”

The second-seeded Hawks carried a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning behind their ace Joanna Lore (Curtis/Staten Island, NY), who had limited the Dolphins to just three hits through the first five frames. Lore retired shortstop Jennifer Doscher (Moore/Staen Island, NY) to lead off the inning, however senior Donna Przybyszewski (Port Richmond/Staten Island, NY) reached on an error and freshman Christina D’Arpa (Moore/Staten Island, NY) reached on a fielders choice to set the stage for Tepedino’s theatrics. Tepedino then lined a double off the base of the centerfield wall for the game-winning hit.

“She’s a veteran {Tepedino} and she came through for us in a big way,” said Staten Island head coach Stella Porto. “She was able to calm down and relax in a pressure situation and she did the job.”

Hunter took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth, but could have had an even bigger inning. The Hawks had the bases loaded with no outs with Samantha Grabkowitz (Bayside/Queens, NY) at the plate. The junior hit a hard groundball that looked as if it was headed into rightfield, but Dolphins’ second baseman Christina Pisanti (Port Richmond/Staten Island, NY) made a diving stop to hold the Hawks to just one run. Additionally, Staten Island was able to throw out Zurely Garcia (Walton/Bronx, NY) on the play. Pitcher Theresa Caputo (Curtis/Staten Island, NY) was then able to retire the next two batters, preventing any further damage.

Caputo (2 walks, 6 strikeouts), who was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after winning all three games on the mound, allowed just three hits and an earned run in 6.0 innings of work. D’Arpa came on in the seventh inning to shutdown the Hawks and earned the save.

“This is a huge win for this program,” Porto said. “It has been a dream of mine for a long time to take my alma-mater to the NCAA Tournament and I can’t wait for it to begin.”

Lore allowed just four hits and did not allow a walk, but was hit with the loss. Sophomore Kari Porto (Port Richmond/Staten Island, NY) went 2-for-3 and was the only batter to have two hits in the contest for either side.

2004 CUNYAC SOFTBALL ALL-STARS ANNOUNCED

Staten Island's D’Arpa Named Player Of The Year

D’Arpa hit .547 (47-for-86) and drove in a team-high 34 runs this past season for the Dolphins. In addition, she led the team with 12 doubles and was 10-for-12 on stole base attempts. On the mound, she went 4-4 with a team-best 1.86 earned run average.

Lore went 14-9 with an outstanding 1.38 ERA for the runner-up Hawks. She allowed only 117 hits and just 27 walks in 141.2 innings. She also fanned 141 batters on the season and pitched 19 complete-games. Garcia batted .271 and scored a team-high 25 runs on the season. The steady infielder started 33 games in her initial season in a Hawks’ uniform.

Porto led her alma-mater to the CUNYAC Championship this season. The Dolphins won the regular-season title and then held off Hunter in the finals to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

First Team All-Stars
P Theresa Caputo, Staten Island
INF Kari Porto, Hunter
C/OF Theresa Tepedino, Staten Island
P/OF Kathy Maher, Baruch
C Jaime DeSapio, John Jay
SS/C Rose Tejada, Baruch
P/OF Ally Stamatiades, Baruch
P/1B Liz Amato, John Jay
SS/C Stephanie Rodriguez, Lehman

Second Team All-Stars
P/OF Colleen Gray, John Jay
SS Jennifer Doscher, Staten Island
P/OF Cynthia Cabrera, Hunter
C/INF Samantha Grabkowitz, Hunter
2B/OF Christina Pisanti, Staten Island
OF Luigina Gutierrez, Hunter
1B Nicole Errico, Baruch
C/OF Andrea Lisi, Staten Island
OF Donna Przybyzewski, Staten Island

Honorable Mention
INF Christina O’Shea, Brooklyn
SS/OF Camille Brown, York
INF Jennifer Reeder, City Tech
INF Rannie Miles, Megar Evers

Player Of The Year
CHRISTINA D’ARPA STATEN ISLAND P/3B

Pitcher Of The Year
JOANNA LORE HUNTER P

Rookie Of The Year
ZURELY GARCIA HUNTER IF

Coach Of The Year
STELLA PORTO CSI 2ND YEAR

2004 CUNYAC / BURGER KING
SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

CSI OUSTED FROM NCAA TOURNAMENT

In game two, the Dolphins faced Allegheny College in an elimination game, and hurler Theresa Caputo made what would turn out to be the final start of her illustrious career. The senior CUNY allstar kept the offensively challenged Dolphins in a 1-1 tie into the sixth inning. But back to back Allegheny singles and a three run homer put CSI at a 4-1 deficit. They stole a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but that would be all they could manage as CSI fell, 4-2, and was elimnated from the competition. It was a great season for CSI, as they finally won back their first conference title in five years. The trip to the big dance was the first in school history for a CSI softball team.