New York, N.Y.— The John Jay baseball team, after defeating the City College of New York (CCNY) in two-of- three games on Saturday in a historic tripleheader at American Legion Field, earned the No. 2 spot for the four team City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) baseball championship this weekend, which beings this Thursday and goes through Saturday at MCU Park on legendary Coney Island.
John Jay will face No. 3 seed CCNY in a rematch of Saturday's three games at 4 p.m. on Thursday, while No. 1 seed the College of Staten Island will face No. 4 seed Baruch College at 1 p.m. in the double elimination championship.
Thursday's losers will face each other on Friday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game, while the two winners from Thursday will play Friday at 4 p.m. in a winners bracket game. Friday's 1 p.m. winner will then play Friday's 4 p.m. loser at 7 p.m. Friday evening. The championship game will take place Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. with an if necessary game to follow at 4 p.m.
“I really like our chances in the championship this season. We are starting to play our best baseball all season as of late,” said head coach
Dan Palumbo, who has won the conference tournament twice (2002 and 2007). “If we play the way I know we are capable of playing, I will be very confident in our chances.”
The Bloodhounds, who are 10-26 overall with one regular season game remaining before the tournament, this afternoon at Centenary College, finished the conference regular season 6-6. The first place College of Staten Island finished 11-1, their lone blemish coming at the hands of John Jay in a 5-2 Bloodhound win on April 11 at American Legion Field.
John Jay has posted at least one win against every team in the conference, including two against Lehman and CCNY, and one against the College of Staten Island as well as Baruch.
John Jay has been hot as of late. The Bloodhounds had their three best offensive outputs of the season last week alone. John Jay scored 17 runs in game one's win over CCNY on Saturday, while their 14 runs in game three's win tied their previous high which was set just three days prior in a 14-4 victory over Yeshiva University on April 21.
This season, the Bloodhounds have been led by junior first baseman
Wilmer Chavez (Corona, NY, Queens Vocational) with a team-high .364 batting average and a John Jay high 33 RBI. Senior outfielder
Edwin Hernandez (Brooklyn, NY, Murry Bergtraum), who is batting .322 has team-highs nine doubles and three homeruns. Meanwhile
Xavier Perez (Bronx, NY, Manhattan Center), second on the team in batting average with a .358 mark, has hit a team-best six triples.
“The team has worked hard all season for this,” said Palumbo. “The guys have been very committed and are serious about this championship.”
Admission to MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones who are a minor league affiliate of the New York Mets, is free. The schedule is subject to change. Fans interested on the latest developments should visit the athletics department website, www.johnjayathletics.com.
