BASEBALL (RECORD 7-1, REGION 0-0, CONFERENCE 0-0)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 4 Baseball Rallies for 12-6 win over Kingsborough CC as Gonzalez enjoys career-best day
(Valhalla, NY) – Sophomore Day for the Westchester Community College Baseball team might be two months away, but if Wednesday’s home opener is a sign of things to come for the Vikings, every day they take the field could become a celebration of what is shaping up to be an outstanding sophomore class. On Wednesday, it took major contributions from nearly every sophomore on the Westchester roster to overcome an early deficit to a feisty Kingsborough Community College team making its 2020 season opener. Sophomore Hailyn Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Bronx Envision Academy) enjoyed the best game of his young career, going 4 for 4 with three runs scored. Fellow sophomore Michael Cox (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas HS) launched the first home run of his career, a two-run bomb in the fifth inning to tie the score 5-5, as Westchester CC rode a seven-run sixth inning to down the visiting Wave 12-6 at Viking field. With their fourth straight win, Westchester is now 4-1 for the 2020 season.
The game was certainly not nearly as easy as the final score indicated, as Kingsborough (0-1) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and a 4-2 lead into the fourth inning as an assortment of Viking pitchers walked three Kingsborough batters and hit four during the first two innings alone. The Wave took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, but a Gonzalez single and stolen base brought Cox to the plate with one out. With a stiff wind blowing towards right field, the lefty blasted his first career home run to right field to tie the score at five. However, Kingsborough reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth inning on an RBIO double off pitcher Hector Camacho (Harrison, NY/Harrison HS). However, that was the last hit Kingsborough would get off Camacho, yet another sophomore who helped save the day.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Westchester took advantage of two Kingsborough errors and four walks to blow the game wide open. Freshman Don Hopper (Garrison, NY/Walter Panas HS) singled home sophomore Jhojandy Hernandez (Bronx, NY/Salesian) to tie the score 6-6. Later, with the bases loaded, Gonzalez brought Hopper home with a single to put Westchester ahead for good, 7-6. From there, a walk, a passed ball, and an error brought home single runs to make it 9-6, and the Vikings tacked on three more runs for the 12-6 edge.
That was more than enough for Camacho, who retired the final five batters he faced to pick up his first win of the 2020 campaign, as he struck out three of the seven batters he faced.
Aside from Gonzalez’s heroics, Cox went 3 for 4 with two RBI’s and three runs scored, while Hopper drove in a pair of runs. Six Vikings combined for 11 hits on the day.
THURSDAY MARCH 5 ox, Jempty Lead Baseball Team to Fifth-Straight Win; 12-3 over Queensborough CC
(Valhalla, NY) – If Westchester Community College sophomore Jake Jempty (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas HS) finds a way to pitch the first inning the way he does the remainder of a game during the 2020 season, he is looking at the kind of year that earns a pitcher significant post-season consideration. Two starts into his sophomore campaign, Jempty is a perfect 2-0, and has allowed 10 runs during 13 innings of work. The fact that he has allowed only four total runs beyond the first inning is where things get exciting for the Vikings. On Thursday, Jempty allowed two first inning runs, and then was brilliant the rest of the way, as Queensborough Community College did not score a single earned run after the opening stanza. Westchester, on the other hand, scored 12 runs after the first inning, en route to a 12-3, seven-inning victory that marks five consecutive wins for the Vikings. Westchester is now 5-1 for the 2020 campaign.
Jempty allowed four hits and two runs after recording only one out during the top of the first inning, but then settled in brilliantly. At one point, he retired 13 Tigers in a row, a streak that only interrupted by two consecutive Viking errors that led to an unearned Queensborough run, and had both defensive plays been made, Jempty would have finished his start with 15 straight outs.
While Jempty was mowing Queensborough down, the Viking bats came alive. Westchester scored three times in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead. They blew the game open an inning later when a Michael Cox (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas HS) single scored two runs to extend the lead to 6-2, and Cox later scored on a Jace Deiulio (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland HS) single to make it 7-2. Westchester then scored three in the fourth inning and two in the sixth inning to allow for a seven-inning win.
Cox went two for 4 with three RBI’s and two runs scored, while Deiulio went 2 for 3 with two RBI’s. Also for the Vikings, sophomore Hailyn Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Bronx Envision Academy) walked twice and scored three runs, while sophomore Tyler Mandel (Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale HS) went 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored.
The story of the game was Jempty, who struck out four and did not walk a batter during six outstanding innings.
SUNDAY MARCH 8 BASEBALL BEGINS FLORIDA TRIP WITH DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP OF GLEN OAKS CC
(Winter Haven, FL) – All Luisbert Frias (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester HS) needed was a little warmth and sunshine to get his 2020 season on track, and now that he has it, things are looking up in a big way. After beginning the year in an 0 for 11 slump over his first five games, Frias broke his slump in a big way on Sunday, going 4 for 7 with four runs scored and two RBI’s over two games as Westchester swept Glen Oaks Community College, 7-2 and 8-1 at the Russ Matt College Baseball Invitational in Winter Haven, Florida. With the wins, Westchester is now 7-1 for the 2020 season, including seven straight wins.
Westchester quickly fell behind 1-0 in the opener, but it did not take long for sophomore Michael Cox (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas HS) settle in. Cox was brilliant during his second start of the season, keeping Glen Oaks off the scoreboard for the next four innings. He finished with a complete game, allowing five hits, no walks, and striking out 11.
Westchester tied the score in the second inning as a Jace Deiulio (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland HS) single brought home Frias, before breaking the game open with five runs in the fourth. Deiulio had a huge game, going 2 for 2 with two RBI’s and a run scored, while sophomore Jhojandy Hernandez (Bronx, NY/Salesian) walked twice and drove in two runs. Westchester held to only six hits, but seven Viking walks and seven stolen bases made a big difference.
The second game featured another fine pitching performance as sophomore Hector Camacho (Harrison, NY/Harrison HS) followed up Cox’s brilliance with a gem of his own, allowing only one run over six innings, while striking out three. An RBI single by Frias put Westchester ahead 1-0 in the second inning, and a three-run third inning made it 4-0, thanks to a sacrifice fly by sophomore Tyler Mandel (Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale HS), and an RBI single by Carlos Pardo (White Plains, NY/Stamford HS). From there, Westchester scored three more times in the fourth inning, and one more in the seventh to secure the win.
Frias went 2 for 4, while sophomore Hailyn Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Bronx Envision Academy) and freshman Brian Beehler (Pawling, NY/Pawling HS) scored two runs apiece. The Vikings combined for five hits and seven walks.
BOWLING
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY MARCH 6 AND 7 MEN’S BOWLING FINISHES IN 17TH PLACE AT NJCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Cheektowaga, NY) – Sophomore Edward Aiken (Middletown, NY/Pine Bush HS) earned a 58th place overall finish, and freshman Jahliv Cornelius (Mamaroneck, NY/Rye Neck HS) finished in 85th place as the Westchester Community College Men’s Bowling team earned a 17th place finish at the 2020 NJCAA National Bowling Championships, held overt the weekend at the AMF Airport Lanes in Cheektowaga, New York.
Aiken averaged a 159.8 during the two-day event, breaking 500 in both doubles and singles play, and he knocked down a total of 1917 pins, only 28 pins behind a top-50 finish, Cornelius finished the weekend with a 127.8 average, knocking down 1534 pins.
Also for the Vikings, freshman Nicolas Garofalo (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck HS) finished in 97th place, averaging 108.6 pins per game after knocking down 1303 pins. Westchester Community College closes the 2020 campaign at the USBC Collegiate SectionAL Singles held from March 13 at
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