By: By Michael L. Damon
PLEASE NOTE: Fans interested in attending the tournament at any time this weekend are advised that while the games are free to attend, parking is $10.00 per car. Fans who choose to take mass transit can take the D, F, N or Q train to Stillwell Avenue. Directions to Keyspan Park
About Keyspan Park
LIVE STATS
New York, N.Y. — After finishing the 2009 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) regular season with an 8-2 record and co-champions of the conference, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice baseball team is set for its final showdown in the double elimination CUNYAC tournament at Brooklyn's own Keyspan Park.
The Bloodhounds, who finished tied for first with Baruch College, will be the No. 2 seed (Baruch is the No. 1 seed as per the head-to-head tie breaker) and will face No. 3 seed the College of Staten Island (CSI) on Thu. May 7 at 4 p.m. Mitchell College is the No. 4 seed and will play Baruch at 1 p.m. that day.
If the Bloodhounds defeat CSI, they will play the winner between Baruch and Mitchell at 4 p.m. on Fri. May 8 at 4 p.m. And if they lose the opening round game to CSI they will face the loser between Baruch and Mitchell in an elimination game on Friday at 4 p.m.
(please see the bottom of this story for the tournament format)
With one non conference regular season game remaining this season, the Bloodhounds are 14-25 and winners of six of their last eight, including three wins against CUNYAC opponent CCNY in which two of them were at Keyspan Park (4/25).
John Jay nears the tournament with a team batting average of .290. Offensively, they have been led by the hot hitting,
Johan Abad (Corona, NY, Flushing) who leads the team in batting average (.400) and is riding a 15 game hitting streak. The Bloodhounds also have five other players batting over .300 including
Xavier Perez (Bronx, NY, Manhattan Center) (.345),
Edwin Hernandez (Brooklyn, NY, Murry Bergtraum) (.342),
John Massoni (Staten Island, NY, St. Peter's Boys)(.331),
Jason Witten (Staten Island, NY, New Dorp) (.323) and
James Podlucky (Staten Island, NY, IMG Academy)(.319).
On the pitching end of things, the Bloodhounds will rely heavily on the senior duo of
Michael Colletta (Staten Island, NY, New Dorp) and Massoni. Both have been spectacular against conference foes this year.
Colletta, a right hander, has five wins this season with a 3.74 ERA. He has struck out 88 batters in 86.2 innings. And against CUNYAC foes, he is 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA. Meanwhile Massoni, a left hander, has also posted five wins. He has a 5.35 ERA and has struck out 101 batters in just 74.0 innings. Against CUNYAC, the south paw is 3-2 with a 2.38 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 34.0 innings.
“All season long our two ace pitchers have done a tremendous job for us,” said head coach, Dan Palumbo. “And I am very confident we will get enough run support to win this year's championship.”
John Jay has appeared in the conference championship the past three years, including a twin in the title game in 2007.
The 2009 conference championship also marks the first time in conference history the CUNYAC baseball championship will be played at the luxurious Keyspan Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a single A minor league affiliate of the New York Mets. Located on the world famous Coney Island section of Brooklyn, N.Y., with a seating capacity of 8,000, it is one of the most beautiful minor league baseball stadiums in the world. Please check out some of these links for more information on Keyspan Park.
CUNYAC Baseball Seeding (CUNYAC Record)
1. Baruch 8-2
2. John Jay 8-2
3. Staten Island 7-3
4. Mitchell 3-7
CUNYAC Baseball Schedule
Thursday, May 7
Game 1: 1 p.m. #1 Baruch vs. #4 Mitchell
Game 2: 4 p.m. #2 John Jay vs. #3 CSI
Friday, May 8
Game 3: 1 p.m. Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (loser of this game is eliminated)
Game 4: 4 p.m. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 5: 7 p.m. Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (loser of this game is eliminated)
Saturday, May 9
Game 6: 1 p.m. Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (if game 4 winner wins this game, they win championship, otherwise a winner take all game seven will follow)
Game 7: 4 p.m. Same as Game 6 (If necessary)
