New Paltz Baseball Storybook Season Comes to an End in Day 3 of NCAA Regional
New Paltz Sports Information Department
Mansfield, CT — A legendary season comes to an end.
Arguably the biggest underdogs in Division III baseball, the State University of New York at New Paltz defied the odds to make a run into the third day of the NCAA Baseball Regional on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University Sunday.
Already defeating the hosting Warriors in the opening day, the Hawks battled to a four-plus hour marathon against No. 1 nationally ranked Endciott Saturday night until near midnight. In a tight turnaround, SUNY New Paltz had to wake up and take on Husson in an elimination game Sunday on the home field at Eastern Connecticut State University with first pitch thrown at noon. The team couldn't duplicate the hot bats from its performance 12 hours earlier and suffered a 6-2 loss to put an end to a magical run.
"It's really tough. A quick turnaround, you have to be really mature, you have to be really mentally tough and I thought today we played hard," said Hawks coach Thomas Seay. "Ideally, you want to cash in on scoring opportunities that we had early, so when you're already on short rest and you're not feeling great, and you're not cashing in on those opportunities that can be a little deflating. But, we played really hard in that back half of the game. Husson executed pitches. They made plays when they needed to. They had some good at-bats in the middle part of that game to kind of push it out of reach there, but I'm really proud of this group and everything they accomplished. It was a great run. It was a great season. I'm really proud of them."
The Eagles opened up the game with a double, but SUNY New Paltz starter Matt Sarni worked back to earn a strikeout then forced Husson into a 4-6-3 double play following another base hit. However, Sarni got into trouble once again in the second, started on a lead-off hit-by-pitch. The Eagles added its first run in the next at-bat on an RBI double over the head of Nick Harvey. Another walk was followed by a sacrifice ground out to push the lead to 2-0 with a wild pitch forcing in another run to create a quick 3-0 hole for SUNY New Paltz.
The Eagles tallied two more runs in the fourth and capped their offensive day with a run in the fifth on a controversial call at the plate with Justin Harvey seemingly tagging the runner at home on a throw from left by Nick Harvey. However, the umpire saw otherwise and called the runner safe at the plate to create a 6-0 score.
The Hawks had two runners on in the bottom half of the fifth on free bases given to Fabian Apicella and Justin Ortz, but they couldn't capitalize as a ground out ended the threat. They had an opportunity to cut into the deficit in the sixth, as Kreider got the inning started on a lead-off walk before advancing into scoring position on a passed ball. A flyout moved Kreider over to third with Anthony Pericolosi bringing him home on a sacrifice ground out to secure the team's first run. Dillon Ristano kept the inning alive, beating out an errant throw at first but SUNY New Paltz stranded two on a two-out ground out.
The Hawks threatened again in the seventh thanks to a lead-off base hit by Justin Ortiz. He advanced over to scoring position on a wild pitch before Nick Harvey got on, having a long at-bat fouling off pitches before taking a walk. Michael Ascanio loaded the bases on a base hit with a wild pitch on the next at-bat bringing Ortiz home to cut the score, 6-2. The threat ended there, however, as Pericolosi struck out swinging leaving Ascanio and Harvey on second and third, respectively.
Kreider led the team with a hit, a run scored and two walks. Ortiz finished 1-for-2 with a run and a walk with Pericolosi recording an RBI and a walk. Sarni was given the loss after four innings of work, allowing seven hits, four earned runs and a walk with two strikeouts.
The loss concluded a magical run for the SUNY New Paltz Baseball team, which finishes with the most wins in program history at 31-16 overall. In the month of May — and final game of April — the team won 10 of 13, including five-straight over perennial power Oswego to not only secure the highest seeding in program history but put its self in the SUNYAC title game against top seed and nationally ranked Cortland. Never having beaten the Red Drgaons on their home field ever, the team did so, twice, to secure their first ever program title and NCAA Tournament appearance.
"We had some high expectations coming in. We had a good fall and we knew we had some good leadership and veteran leadership... so we felt like we had some nice pieces," Seay said. "We started off a little slow, figuring out how to win and that's always really, really important. But once we got into conference play, started to get things going a little bit, started to get some momentum and the month of April into May was just a really historic part of our program. We turned things around pretty quick. We won some big games, won some big series. Did some things that people didn't think was possible for New Paltz Baseball and we were able to accomplish that. It's a great program year. It's a great year for these men who worked so hard for five-plus years for this program. I'm so excited for them and their future, but also really satisfied that they'll look back on this with a lot of fond memories."
Even in the NCAA Tournament, the Hawks weren't scared of the challenge facing a tournament host in Eastern Connecticut State or the No. 1 team in the country in the Gulls. SUNY New Paltz won its first ever NCAA Touranemnt game over the Warriors, placing its self in the winner's bracket against Endicott where it scored the most runs against the national power. Although it came up just short in reaching a Super Regional, the Hawks put DIII Baseball on notice in a storybook run led by fifth —and one sixth year — senior.
"Without those fifth- and sixth-year guys: Michael Boccarossa, Connor Olson, Nick and Justin Harvey, Justin Ortiz, James McGovern — without them none of this is possible and more than anything they really laid the foundation of success that can be built upon," Seay said. "Their hard work, dedication and commitment to each other and to the program, their selflessness has just been remarkable. I'm really proud of them that they got to end their careers with a season like this. They'll remember this forever and when we're able to do this again, it'll be because of them. They'll have a part of that as well."
