FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The Skyline Conference Baseball Championship Tournament begins this afternoon, as the Valiants are in action in the first round. Sixth-seeded Manhattanville will take on No. 3 Mount Saint Vincent with a berth in Friday's double elimination bracket hanging in the balance.


  How We Got Here:
The last weekend of the regular season resulted in multiple shakeups in the final conference standings. Manhattanville entered Saturday as the No. 3 seed, but four losses knocked the Valiants down to the sixth-seed, securing the final postseason berth. The Dolphins, meanwhile, went 4-0 over the weekend to leap into third place to serve as the home team on the neutral field at Farmingdale on Wednesday.

A big reason for the seeding changes was the Saturday doubleheader between Manhattanville and Mount Saint Vincent. The Dolphins came to Manhattanville and took both games, winning the opener 8-0 before taking Game Two 9-3. Overall, the Dolphins have won six straight Skyline contests, ending the year with a 13-7 conference mark and a 25-15 overall record. The Valiants enter the day 19-18 on the year and 11-9 in Skyline play.

Brian Bornkamp (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) has led the Valiants at the plate with a .419 batting average on the season and a 1.138 OPS. Beyond his team-leading 39 hits, Bornkamp has had great discipline at the plate, drawing a Skyline-best 28 walks. Manhattanville has five batters with 20 or more runs batted in on the season, led by 27 off the bat of Tyler Viscusi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham).

On the mound, rookie Ray White (Mohegan Lake, N.Y./Lakeland) has had a phenomenal season to lead the Valiant rotation. White sports a 7-1 record with seven straight wins and has pitched to the tune of a 2.62 ERA. While the Valiant pitching staff is not a strikeout heavy unit, White has led the team in punchouts with 23 on the year. Out of the pen, Thomas Iazzetta (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake) had been the most trusted option for the Valiants with a 1.42 ERA and five saves in his 25.1 innings of work.

The Dolphins feature the Skyline's leading hitter in Jake Blinstrub at the top of their lineup. The reigning Skyline Conference Player of the Year is hitting .510 on the season and leads the conference in OBP, OPS, runs, hits, RBI and doubles. Keeping Blinstrub contained will be a key focus of the Valiant arms after the senior went 6-for-8 with four runs scored in last week's doubleheader against Manhattanville.

Andrew Geiger has been the Dolphins' top starter, going 6-2 with a 2.17 ERA and 57 strikeouts. The junior pitched five shutout innings in Game One against the Valiants last week, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out four.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Batting Average: Bornkamp (.419), Delgado (.358), Silvestri (.344)
• Runs Batted In: Viscusi (27), Silvestri (23), Mandel (22)
• Earned Run Average: Iazzetta (1.42), White (2.62), Ciuffetelli (3.16)
• Strikeouts: White (23), Iazzetta (22), Viscusi (18)

Mount Saint Vincent

• Batting Average: Blinstrub (.510), DiNorcia (.419), Zimmermann (.386)
• Runs Batted In: Blinstrub (47), DiNorcia (43), Zimmermann (40)
• Earned Run Average: Geiger (2.17), Kennedy (2.70), Vela (3.28)
• Strikeouts: Geiger (57), Rice (43), Kennedy (31)

History:

• All-Time Record vs Mount Saint Vincent: 11-6
• Streak: Mount Saint Vincent W3
• Series Record at Mount Saint Vincent: 5-2
• Last Six Meetings:
  • 4/30/22: Mount Saint Vincent 9, Manhattanville 3
  • 4/30/33: Mount Saint Vincent 8, Manhattanville 0
  • 5/2/21: Manhattanville 6, Mount Saint Vincent 10
  • 5/2/21: Manhattanville 9, Mount Saint Vincent 6
  • 5/1/21: Mount Saint Vincent 18, Manhattanville 9
  • 5/1/21: Mount Saint Vincent 3, Manhattanville 5

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