2005 NCAA Division III Baseball New York Regional
2005 Tournament Statistics
Summary Stats
Team Stats
Individual Stats
Centenary
Cortland State
Ithaca
Pittsburg-Bradford
Rhode Island
Skidmore
Cortland State advances to the Championship Round
AUBURN, N.Y. – Cortland jumped out to a 9-0 lead after six innings, then held off a furious Ithaca rally to defeat the Bombers, 9-7, in the championship round of the NCAA Division III regional at Auburn's Falcon Park. With the regional title, the Red Dragons (39-7-1) advance to the Division III World Series for the seventh time and the first since five straight appearances from 1997-2001. Cortland will face Wooster (Ohio) on Friday, May 27, at 7:45 p.m. (8:45 Eastern) in a first round game at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. The eight-team, double-elimination series will run through Tuesday, May 31. Ithaca finishes the season with a 25-16-2 record. The Bombers, who were vying for their first World Series appearance since 1994, have been the regional runner-up six times in the last seven years.
Cortland took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when D'Auria reached second on a one-out throwing error and scored on Piovesan's two-out single to left cen ter. The Red Dragons exploded for four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to extend the lead to 9-0.
In the fifth, Will Groff led off with a single and scored on Robinson's double down the right field line. D'Auria was hit by a pitch, Steve Newman bunted the runners over and Piovesan was intentionally walked to load the bases. Tacelli, who struck out in his first two at-bats, lined a double to left center to drive in all three runs, with Piovesan barely sliding under the tag at home.
In the sixth, Jimmy Basnight led off with an infield single and, two batters later, Robinson homered over the right field fence. D'Auria singled to left, Newman reached on a bunt single to first and Piovesan doubled to left center to drive in both runners. Jarred Flaherty, Ithaca's third pitcher of the game, kept the Bombers within striking distance with three and twothird innings of hitless relief. He hit the first batter he faced in the sixth, then retired the final 11 Cortland batters, three by strikeout.
Ithaca made a game of it with five runs in the bottom of the seventh. P.J. Canestrari singled with one out, Kyle Rutherford was hit by a pitch and Eric Ferguson singled to load the bases. Bryan Stamboly then singled to left to drive in a run and knock out Rockfeld. Maya followed with a double down the left field line off Jason Chyr to drive in two runs and O'Boyle singled through the right side to score two more.
In the ninth, Stamboly led off with a double over Tacelli's head in right and Maya doubled to left to drive him in. Sophomore Justin M attes entered the game for the Red Dragons and struck out the next two batters. Josh Smith hit a grounder to second which looked like the potential final out, but was barely safe after a fielding error. Rob Raux then nearly tied the game when his opposite-field blast to right landed only a few feet from being a three-run homer. He finished with an RBI double on the play, placing runners on second and third with the Bombers down 9-7. Junior Nick McPartland relieved Mattes and got Canestrari to ground out to second for the final out and his second save of the tournament and fourth of the season.
Cortland sophomore first baseman and tournament Most Outstanding Player. Robinson batted .389 with three doubles, a homer and five RBI and played errorless ball during Cortland's 4-0 run through the regional. Four other Red Dragons were on the all-tournament team – senior outfielder Pat D'Auria, junior third baseman Ricky Piovesan, junior outfielder Zach Tacelli and sophomore pitcher Jon Rockfeld. D'Auria was 1-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored in the championship game. Ithaca's all-tournament team representatives were outfielder Eric Maya, second baseman Marty O'Boyle and pitcher Matt Lavoie. Also named to the regional all-tournament team were Ryan Snyder and Ben Miller from Pitt-Bradford and Michael Rivers from Skidmore.
2005 New York Regional All-Tournament Team
MVP - Travis Robinson, Cortland State
First Base - Travis Robinson, Cortland State; Second Base - Marty O'Boyle, Ithaca; Third Base - Ricky Piovesan, Cortland State; Outfield - Eric Maya, Ithaca; Pat D'Auria, Cortland State; Zach Tacelli, Cortland State; Designated Hitter - Ryan Snyder, Pitt-Bradford; Pitcher - Jon Rockfeld, Cortland State; Matt Lavoie, Ithaca; Michael Rivers, Skidmore; Ben Miller, Pitt-Bradford.
2005 Results
Cortland State 9, Rhode Island 8 (10)
Skidmore 6, Pittsburg-Bradford 4
Pittsburg-Bradford 2, Rhode Island 0
Cortland State 4,. Centenary 0