BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Wrapping up the regular season, the Manhattanville University baseball team clinched a berth into the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament with a sweep of Saint Joseph's Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. The wins bring the Valiants' overall record to 19-19 while improving to 11-9 in Skyline Conference action, winning seven of their final ten conference games to return to postseason play after missing the tournament a year ago.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 5, Saint Joseph's Brooklyn 0
A second-straight complete game shutout by Ryan McCann (Medford, N.Y./Longwood) led the way in the opener as the sophomore dominated on the mound.
McCann concludes the regular season hot, winning each of his last three starts. On Saturday, he allowed six hits across his seven innings of work and walked a pair, striking out two. While the Bears got runners on in all but one inning, McCann shrugged off any traffic he faced to hold Saint Joseph's scoreless.
Manhattanville plated the day's first run in the third, with Chris Goohs (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown H.S. East) leading off the inning with a double. The sophomore advanced his way up to third on a Bears error before Michael Musantry (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) drove him home with a two-out single.
The Valiants added onto their lead an inning later off a Gregory Tashik (Midland Park, N.J./Midland Park Jr./Sr.) two-run home run. The deep fly was the sophomore's first of his career.
Leading by three entering the final inning of Game One, the Valiants tacked on two more insurance runs in the seventh. Anthony Pressimone (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) led off with a solo shot, the senior's second homer of the year, before Joseph McDonald (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) plated the final run of the game with an RBI single to score Jake Parisi (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach).
Goohs finished with two hits in the win. Christian Amoruso (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) joined Goohs with a double, while Parisi successfully stole a bag on the basepaths.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 11, Saint Joseph's Brooklyn 6
Offense had the upperhand in game two, as the teams combined to put up 17 runs on 26 hits with the Valiants emerging on top in the slugfest.
Marco Clara (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) fired the first shot with an RBI single in the first to score Pressimone. A batter later, Parisi scored as McDonald hit into a fielder's choice, giving the Valiants an early two run cushion.
The visiting team plated three more an inning later. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody away. CJ Archul (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) got a run home by putting the ball in play as Tashik scored on the ground out. Musantry drew a walk to load the bags up once again, allowing Goohs to score on a Pressimone sacrifice fly and Amoruso to dart home on a passed ball to put Manhattanville up 5-0.
The Bears came to life in the bottom half, plating four runs to spell an early end to the day for TJ Fuerst (Purchase, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac). The junior went 1.1 innings in the start and was charged for four runs on four hits while striking out one.
Joseph Lacoparra (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) was called upon to limit the damage and delivered a strong relief appearance. The graduate arm picked up the win after firing 2.2 innings of one-run ball, scattering five hits while striking out three.
Lacoparra got the two outs needed to retire the side in the second and preserve Manhattanville's one-run lead. The Valiants got one back in the top of the third, with Clara scoring on a Goohs ground out. An inning later, the lead climbed back up to three as Archul scored on a Parisi sacrifice fly.
After the Bears scored a run on two hits in the fourth, neither team would plated a run in the fifth. Following the brief offensive reprieve, Parisi and Clara delivered RBI singles in the sixth to further the Valiant lead up to 9-5.
Saint Joseph's fired back with one more run in their half of the sixth, but Amoruso officially put the game out of reach with a two-run single in the seventh to move the score to 11-6 where it would hold the rest of the way.
Myles Durney (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) pitched a scoreless fifth for the Valiants, striking out one while not allowing a hit. From there, it was Gregory Esposito (Katonah, N.Y./John Jay) the rest of the way home, with the graduate allowing one run on three hits in four innings, striking out four to log his second save of the year.
Tashik led the effort at the plate with a 3-for-4 effort, while Parisi, Clara, McDonald and Amoruso each collected a pair of hits. Musantry recorded the team's lone extra base hit with his 11th double of the season. Parisi, Tashik and Goohs each stole a base in the win.
Up Next
The Valiants await the conclusion of Skyline action on Monday to find out their final postseason seeding and opponent. More information will be available on GoValiants.com on Monday evening.
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