Dolphins keep the trophy home 
 CSI wins CUNY title for fourth straight season with 9-7 win against John Jay

Staten Island Advance - Monday, May 08, 2006

The three seniors -- Jamie Lee, Matt Stefanski and Pat Smith -- held the championship trophy high in the air while flashing four fingers on their free hands.

The College of Staten Island's fourth consecutive CUNY Conference Tournament title -- courtesy of yesterday's 9-7 home victory over top-seeded John Jay to sweep the best-of-three championship series -- put the Dolphins in the record books. They are the only team in the tourney's 24-year history to win four straight.

"It's a heckuva way to go out," said Lee, who went 2 for 4, scored two runs and made a running catch of James DeCesare's drive in the eighth inning. "We came into the season with a lot of question marks and not very high expectations.

"By the end of the year, we put it all together."

There were enough heroics to fill up CSI's ecstatic clubhouse.

Junior second baseman Bob Glennerster's one-out double to the right-centerfield gap broke a 7-7 deadlock in the eighth inning. Freshman shortstop Anthony Piccirillo, named the tourney's MVP, followed with another RBI double to cap a 4-for-5 afternoon.

And right-hander Smith came out of the bullpen in the ninth inning to strike out the side after the first two batters reached base. Smith caught pinch-hitter Tim Murphy looking on an 0-2 fastball to trigger CSI's celebration in the middle of the Dolphin Stadium diamond.

"I'm happy for the players and the coaches," said CSI head coach Bill Cali. "They all worked hard. They put in their time. They didn't quit when things got tough."

CSI's 7-3 lead in the sixth inning was nothing but a faded memory after John Jay scored once in the sixth and tied the game with a three-run eighth. Henry Chao's two-run double with two outs brought the Bloodhounds even.

But the Dolphins responded in the bottom of the eighth. Mike Liconti worked a leadoff walk and was forced at second on Paul Buonviaggio's sacrifice bunt. Buonviaggio was then sent in motion and scored from first when Glennerster drove a 1-0 fastball into the right-center gap -- beating second baseman DeCesare's relay throw to the plate.

"There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to put some more runs on the board," said Glennerster. "We've been hitting all year. I just tried to keep my hands back and drive the ball."

That left the game in Smith's hands. He allowed a single and walk to open the ninth, then settled down to business. He set down Richard Santana swinging on a 1-2 pitch, then needed just three pitches to catch Richard Fernandez looking.

Three pitches later, Smith had recorded a save in the CUNY finale for the second time in three seasons.

"They (John Jay) have very good hitters in the middle of that lineup," said Smith. "That's what motivated me in that spot. I wanted to get it over with quickly."

He did. And the Dolphins had their four-peat.

NOTES: The Dolphins, 24-16 overall, will have to wait a week to find out whether they'll gain a bid to the four-team ECAC Metro Tournament. John Jay, which finished the CUNY regular season with an 18-0 record and had an 11-game winning streak snapped by the Dolphins on Saturday night, still hopes to land an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. If not, the 28-13 Bloodhounds would fall into the potential ECAC pool ...

CSI starter Jon Reyes didn't get the pitching victory because of John Jay's comeback, but kept the Dolphins ahead with a gutty 126-pitch effort over seven innings. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and stranded two more runners in the seventh. "He got us to the eighth inning with a 7-4 lead," said Cali. "All 135 pounds of him." ...

Piccirillo definitely earned his tourney MVP award. The freshman from Curtis batted .533 (8 for 15) in the three games, with five RBI and four runs scored. He also made the move from centerfield to shortstop because of shuffling caused by a late-season injury to second baseman Mohammad Hamad ...

Lee became a future answer to the following CUNY trivia question: Which player was the only member of four consecutive conference tourney champions? The senior out of McKee/Staten Island Tech was CSI's lone four-year player.

By Jim Waggoner
Reprinted here with permission from the