By: Michael L. Damon
mdamon@jjay.cuny.edu
(212) 237-8322
Box Score
BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The John Jay baseball team, the No. 4 seed, gave top seeded College of Staten Island all it could handle but fell just short in the end as the Bloodhounds lost to the Dolphins 3-2 in 12 innings in the opening round of the 2013 City University of New York Athletic Conference / MCU baseball championship at MCU Park on Monday afternoon.
With the loss, John Jay moves into the loser's bracket game and will play in the first elimination game on Tuesday at 1 p.m. against No. 3 seed Lehman College, who lost to No. 2 seed Baruch College, 5-1, in the other game. CSI and Baruch will square off in the winner's bracket game at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
During Monday's loss, John Jay had nine hits. The Bloodhounds were led by
Luca Altamirano and
Esteban Soler who had two hits each. Meanwhile
Dennis Lopez and
Jose Fernandez had one hit and one run batted in each.
It was a pitcher's duel throughout, and the game was scoreless through the first three and a half innings. CSI got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the fourth. The Dolphins' first run came via a sacrifice fly by John Baggs that scored William DiFede. The run was unearned as a John Jay error earlier in the inning allowed DiFede to move from first base to third base to setup the sacrifice fly.
Then the Dolphins went ahead 2-0 with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning when DiFede scored for the second time in the game when a single by Baggs brought him home. The run was the only one earned off of starting pitcher
Chris Cracchiolo who pitched a dazzling 11 innings, while throwing over 150 pitches, and allowed three runs (one earned) on nine hits.
John Jay tied the score with two runs in the top of the eighth. The Bloodhounds, who hustled the entire game, got a pair of infield singles from Soler and Altamirano with one out to get two runners aboard. Both runners scored later in the inning as Soler scored from third on a ground out by Lopez, then a base hit by
Jose Fernandez scored Altamirano.
From their both teams went the next four innings without a run. Both pitchers seemed to be getting stronger as the game went on. CSI starter Richard Anderson went the distance and picked up the win after going 12 innings and allowing two runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts.
The Dolphins then got the break they needed. CSI's Phil Ciprello started the twelfth inning with a single. Then a sacrifice bunt attempt by Daniel Lynch led to a John Jay error, and suddenly CSI had runners on second and third with nobody out. Then with one out, Joseph Palmeri ripped a shot down the third base line to bring home the game winning run for the Dolphins and put CSI in the winner's bracket game.
It was the fifth time John Jay lost to CSI this year as the Bloodhounds are now 0-5 against the Dolphins in 2013.
If John Jay beats Lehman in the first elimination game, the Bloodhounds will play later in the day at 7 p.m. against the loser between CSI and Baruch. The winner between CSI and Baruch will advance into Friday's championship game.
