Dominican Wins CACC Baseball Tournament Championship Over Felician

May 13, 2006

Dominican Wins CACC Baseball Tournament Championship Over Felician

Wilmington, DE (5/13/06) – Dominican College has won its second consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship with two victories today over Felician in Wilmington, DE. The Chargers entered the day needing to defeat Felician twice to garner the title, and they did so with victories by scores of 13-8 and 13-9. By virtue of winning the championship, the Chargers have earned the CACC’s first automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament. The field for the tournament will be announced on Sunday.

Dominican Wins CACC Baseball Tournament Championship Over Felician

Courtesy of Kirk Reed, Assistant Commissioner of the CACC

Wilmington, DE (5/13/06) - Dominican College has won its second consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship with two victories today over Felician in Wilmington, DE. The Chargers entered the day needing to defeat Felician twice to garner the title, and they did so with victories by scores of 13-8 and 13-9. By virtue of winning the championship, the Chargers have earned the CACC's first automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament. The field for the tournament will be announced on Sunday.

Today's wins over Felician avenged a tournament-opening 11-9 setback to the Golden Falcons on Thursday. In its final three games of the tournament, Dominican averaged just over 13 runs per-game. In the championship game, Dominican kept the hits coming with a nine-run second inning. Sophomore right-fielder Sean Brown (Massapequa, NY) started things with a two-run triple and junior 1B Jose Escalera (Bronx, NY) and senior designated hitter Chad Duesler (Northville, NY) both added two-run doubles in the inning.

Despite trailing, 13-1, entering the top of the eighth inning, Felician made things interesting by scoring eight runs in the frame. Senior catcher Mike Rooth started things with a two-run single and junior 1B Frank Quintana, junior right-fielder Ray Rose, senior 2B Alex Noguera and freshman right-fielder Vin DiBenedetti all recorded RBI's in the inning. Felician added two more runs on wild pitches. However, Dominican relief pitcher Michael Mondesir (Jamaica, NY) entered the game and recorded the final four outs of the game to shut the door.

Charger freshman right-hander Nick Schreiber (Greencastle, PA) impressed in his first collegiate postseason appearance and did not allow a Felician base hit until the eighth inning. He hurled 7.0 innings and allowed four hits and five runs. Tournament MVP, freshman shortstop Jose Made (Binghamton, NY), went 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI and finished the tournament with 10 runs batted in and a .450 (9-for-20) batting average. Brown finished 2-for-3 and knocked in four runs, while Escalera finished 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI.

In the first game of the day, Felician jumped on top, 1-0, in the top of the first frame on a Rooth RBI double, plating junior CF Kenny Vanderhee. The lead was short-lived as Dominican scored seven runs on four hits and three Golden Falcon errors in the bottom of the inning. Made, senior CF Eliezer Nunez (Brooklyn, NY) and senior DH Duesler all provided RBI hits in the inning.

Felician came back with three runs in the top of the fourth to close to within three, 7-4. Rooth led off with another double and scored on a Quintana single. Felician added two more runs via a Dominican throwing error.

Dominican pulled away thanks to a Made triple in the bottom of the fifth frame, which drove in three runs, making the score 11-4.

Freshman right-hander Armando Tavarez (Bronx, NY) earned the win and improved to 5-2 on the season. He worked 7.0 innings and allowed five runs and fanned two. Made led the Chargers by going 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI, including two triples, while Duesler also went 3-for-4 and added three runs and two RBI. Rooth went 5-for-5 for the Golden Falcons with three doubles, two runs and two RBI and Quintana finished 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI.

The full tournament results and All-Tournament team are below.

Thursday, May 11

Game 1: #3 Bloomfield 6, #2 Wilmington 4

Game 2: #1 Dominican 9, vs. #4 Felician 11

Friday, May 12

Game 3: Dominican 2, Wilmington 1

Game 4: Felician 7, Bloomfield 6

Game 5: Dominican 15, Bloomfield 0

Saturday, May 13

Game 6: Dominican 13, Felician 8

Game 7: Dominican 13, Felician 9

All-Tournament Team

Jose Made, Dominican - MVP

Mike Zani, Dominican

Joe Catanese, Dominican

Matt Dilgen, Dominican

Keith Gebert, Dominican

Mike Rooth, Felician

Frank Quintana, Felician

John Tingos, Felician

Matt Dutch, Bloomfield

Joe O'Donnell, Bloomfield

Kenny McGrady, Wilmington

The aim of Dominican University New York is to promote educational excellence, leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the individual and concern for the community and its needs. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, the university is an independent institution of higher learning, Catholic in origin and heritage. In the Dominican tradition, it fosters the active, shared pursuit of truth and embodies an ideal of education rooted in the values of reflective understanding and compassionate involvement. Committed to building its programs upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, the university maintains a student-centered climate and serves a diverse community of students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The university empowers this community of learners to excel, lead and serve with integrity and to engage responsibly in the pursuit of a more just, ethical and sustainable world. Dominican also sponsors 18 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level. To learn more about Dominican University New York, please visit www.duny.edu.