May 10, 2006

Box Score

Garden City, N.Y. - Junior Pat O'Neill (Oakville, CT) struck a single to right field, scoring Bobby Calca (Elmont, N.Y.) in the bottom of the 13th inning, giving Adelphi a 8-7 win and eliminating St. Thomas Aquinas from the NYCAC Tournament. With the win, the Panthers improve to 21-22 overall, while the Spartans fall to 23-23.

Adelphi jumped on St. Thomas Aquinas early when Stephen Malvagna (East Meadow, N.Y.) singled to center in the bottom of the first inning, driving in Mike Connors (Babylon, N.Y.) and Thomas Cali (Shirley, N.Y.), giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

The Spartans got seven runs in the top of the third inning to leap frog the Panthers and pull out to a 7-2 lead. A Javier Diaz RBI single started the rally, while a Jason Pominski run scoring double closed it out. In the bottom, half of the inning Adelphi got RBI singles from O'Neill and Mike Colonna (Staten Island, N.Y.) to close the gap to three runs, 7-4.

Scoreless baseball ensued for the next three and a half innings, until the Panthers erupted, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, knotting the game at seven. A Nick Testani (Williston Park, N.Y.) two run triple and another Colonna RBI single brought Adelphi back.

With the score tied in the top of the eighth, the Panthers brought in Chris Zinkiewicz (Massapequa, N.Y.), who shut down the Spartans over the next five innings, giving up just two hits and no runs. Adelphi loaded the bases in the bottom of the 13th inning, with O'Neill stepping to the plate. O'Neill stroked a single to right field, bringing the winning run across the plate.

Adelphi returns to action on Thursday, May 11 when they travel to the P.A.L. Complex in Hauppauge, New York for a noon meeting with top-seeded New Haven. The winner of the Adelphi, New Haven game advances to the NYCAC final at 3:00 pm and will face the winner of the Molloy, Dowling game.