PURCHASE, N.Y. – For the second straight season the Manhattanville baseball team clinched the fourth and final playoff berth on the last day of the conference schedule. Similar to last year, the Valiants will start off their quest in the double-elimination tournament against the Misericordia Cougars, with the first game being held at 4 p.m. from Quakertown Memorial Stadium in Quakertown, Pa.
 
Manhattanville finished the season with a 13-27 record and a 9-12 mark in conference play, tying them with the Wilkes Colonels, however Manhattanville took two of three from Wilkes earning them the tiebreaker and right to square off with Misericordia (32-8, 18-3 Freedom) on Friday. The other first-day matchup will pit second-seeded DeSales (30-10, 17-4 Freedom) against third-seeded FDU-Florham (16-21, 11-10 Freedom) at 7 p.m. on Friday.
 
The Valiants are appearing in their fifth Freedom Conference Tournament in six seasons since joining the league, and have won one title back during the 2010 season. Last year the team won it's first matchup against Misericordia in the tournament opener, but dropped its next two against DeSales and then Misericordia to end the season in early May of 2012.
 
Leading the charge offensively this season have been a pair of seniors in catcher Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury) and rightfielder Sean Ferguson (Astoria, N.Y./Xavier). LoVetere has been amongst the team leaders in batting average all season and currently sits at .326 with 25 RBI and 21 runs scored. Ferguson for the second straight season leads the team in RBI with 30 and also has two home runs and a .357 batting average to lead the team.
 
After a slow start to his second year with the team, sophomore Bobby Guerra (Bronx, N.Y./Arlington) has been getting hot at the plate at a time the team needs him most heading into the playoffs. Guerra is third on the team in hitting with a .327 average and third on the team with 21 RBI. Juniors Hans Arias (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) and Elias Tsourtistakis, and sophomore Nick Euvino (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) look to extend the batting order as all three bring in over .300-plus batting averages. Tablesetter Jordanis Nunez (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) ended the regular season with a team-high .401 on-base percent, while also finishing third on the team with 41 hits for a .333 batting average.
 
On the mound the Valiants will look towards two of the top pitchers in the Freedom Conference in junior Alex Basso (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) and sophomore Michael Lyon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon). For Basso, he enters with a team-high four victories and also leads the team in innings pitched to go along with his 4.94 ERA. Lyon started his year looking as if he were in the proverbial “sophomore slump” but redirected his season and has thrown well in his last five starts as he picked up four wins while lowering his ERA to 5.87.
 
Emerging over the latter portion of the season as the team's third conference starter was junior Spencer Samelson (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck), who despite leading the team in hit batters, has kept his walks down which also has helped keep his ERA to a team-best 4.42 in 36 2/3 innings this year.
 
Out of the bullpen this year the Valiants have a bevy of options, led by sophomore Joe Palmeri (Mastic, N.Y./Eastport/South Manor) leading the way with five saves on the year. Other options for Manhattanville include senior Don Fisher (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), juniors Joe Pareres (Bronxville, N.Y./Fordham Prep), Matt Mullin (New York, N.Y./St. John's Prep) and Ryan Blinderman (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde), as well as sophomore Zack Zareva (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional), to go along with freshmen Jason Cosentino (Valhalla, N.Y./Westlake) and Julian Ponce (Port Chester, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac).
 
Manhattanville's first game in Quakertown takes place against top seeded Misericordia, who the Valiants lost all three of their regular season games against in 2013. The winner of the Freedom Conference Championship will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to the 2013 Division III NCAA Baseball Tournament.