News
Valiants Win Skyline Tournament Opener
5.3.2007
Mark Barrar (Newton Square, Pa.) pitched six solid innings and the Regular Season Champion Valiants made the most of their nine hits, beating fourth-seeded Farmingdale State in the first game of the Skyline Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at Manhattanville Field.
The Valiants will take on Stevens at noon Saturday at Dutchess Stadium, home of the Single-A Hudson Valley Renegades. The winner of that game will advance to Sunday’s Championship while the loser will play at 6:00 p.m. for the right to advance to the Championship Day. Stevens defeated second-seed Centenary (N.J.) 11-2 Thursday, meaning the Cyclones and Rams will play Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in an elimination game.
Barrar pitched over five walks and four errors made behind him Thursday, allowing just two unearned runs on four hits and improving to 6-0 in six appearances. The senior right-hander labored through 115 pitches in his six innings, but left the bases loaded in the first and sixth.
Offensively, Manhattanville stayed red hot with runs in five straight frames beginning in the second. The Valiants have scored 60 runs in their last six games, going 5-1 over that stretch, and no player has been hotter than All-Conference second baseman Thomas Verrengia (Staten Island, N.Y.). Verrengia went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored from the leadoff spot Thursday and is 11 for his last 19 with 11 runs scored in the last six games.
Barrar and A.J. Triano (Rye, N.Y.) each also drove in two runs in the game as Triano banged out two hits to bump his average up to .354, third on the team. Manhattanville converted their nine hits into eight runs thanks to machine-like production with men on base, moving four runners over on sacrifice bunts and leaving only four stranded in eight innings.
Tim Quinn (Holbrook, N.Y.) pitched the final three innings for the first save of his career, allowing hits to the first three batters he faced before setting down nine in a row to end the game.
Jesse Scott allowed five runs on six hits over three-plus innings and was tagged with the loss. The Rams (20-16) used five pitchers in the game and got two hits each from Brian Benvenuto and Anthony Mazzilli.
Manhattanville (21-16) has never won a Skyline Conference Tournament, something it will try to do this weekend. Doing so would also give the Valiants an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, which would be a first in program history.