BURLINGTON, VT. – With a 5-2 victory over top-seeded Vermont, Maine advanced to the title game of the 2006 America East Baseball Championship at Historic Centennial Field on Friday evening. Due to nearly a three and a half hour rain delay, the ensuing Vermont-Stony Brook game was rescheduled for Saturday at 12 noon. The Black Bears will face the winner of that contest in the title event on Saturday at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Stony Brook eliminated Albany, 5-3, in the first game of day. Catcher Jon Pasieka went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in and two walks to pace the Seawolves to victory, while first baseman Tom Pennino chipped in with two RBI.
Mark Ostrander scored two runs and drove in another to lead Maine to its 5-2 win over Vermont. Joel Barrett chipped in with three hits on the evening for the Black Bears, while the Catamounts stranded nine runners.
Vermont and Stony Brook's meeting on Saturday will be the first time the two have squared off in championship competition. Regardless of who wins that contest, there will be a recent title rematch as Maine downed Vermont last season to earn the conference championship and Stony Brook toppled Maine in 2004 to win the league hardware.
If a second title game is needed, due to the championship's double-elimination format, the outing will take place on Sunday at 12 noon.
The winner of the America East Championship is awarded the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Vermont is in search of its first-ever conference crown, while Maine (four titles) and Stony Brook (one title) are hoping to capture the league hardware once again.
America East Baseball Championship tickets can be purchased by calling the UVM Ticket Office at 1-866-4-CAT-TIX or online at www.uvmathletics.com. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students. The box office at Centennial Field will open one hour prior to the first game each day.
Be sure to follow all of the tournament action on the web via Championship LIVE! at www.AmericaEast.com.
2006 America East Baseball Championship
Stony Brook vs Albany
May 26, 2006 at Burlington, Vt. (Centennial Field)
Stony Brook 5 (24-28) Albany 3 (20-32)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Witkowski, Brian cf........ 4 1 1 0 Barbato, Al 2b............. 4 0 0 0
Sipp, Chris 2b............. 4 1 2 0 Corvino, Leo rf............ 3 1 0 0
Pennino, Tom 1b............ 4 2 2 2 Wyland, Steve 3b........... 4 2 2 0
Perez, Andres 3b........... 4 1 2 0 Hill, Tom c................ 4 0 1 0
Pasieka, Jon c............. 3 0 3 3 Donovan, Sean ss........... 3 0 1 1
DiBiaso, Chris ss.......... 4 0 2 0 Olson, Nate dh............. 4 0 1 0
Fortuna, Isidro dh......... 4 0 0 0 Daniels, Brad cf........... 4 0 1 0
Leonard, Robert rf......... 5 0 0 0 Wood, Chris 1b............. 4 0 0 0
Milani, Peter lf........... 5 0 0 0 Barksdale, Rashad lf....... 4 0 1 0
Bakey, Kris p.............. 0 0 0 0 Walsh, Casey p............. 0 0 0 0
Brown, Marc p.............. 0 0 0 0 Willimott, Josh p......... 0 0 0 0
Jung, Kurt p............... 0 0 0 0 Beaulieu, Alexander p..... 0 0 0 0
Kirbis, Tony p............ 0 0 0 0
Murphy, Nick p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 37 5 12 5 Totals..................... 34 3 7 1
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Stony Brook......... 203 000 000 - 5 12 2
Albany.............. 000 001 020 - 3 7 1
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E - DiBiaso 2(16); Wyland(15). DP - Stony Brook 2. LOB - Stony Brook 13; Albany 6.
2B - Pennino(11); Perez(10); Pasieka(15). SH - Sipp; DiBiaso; Fortuna. SB -
Wyland(4); Barksdale(22). CS - Donovan.
Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bakey, Kris W,5-4......... 7.0 6 2 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 27 29 6 10 113
Brown, Marc ............... 0.1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 13
Jung, Kurt S,1............ 1.2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 1 17
Albany IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walsh, Casey L,2-5........ 2.0 6 5 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 12 13 3 1 53
Willimott, Josh ........... 3.2 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 15 18 4 6 52
Beaulieu, Alexander ....... 2.1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 9 3 4 25
Kirbis, Tony .............. 0.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 9
Murphy, Nick .............. 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 2 8
WP - Brown. Inherited runners/scored: Brown 1/1; Jung 1/0; Willimott 2/1; Beaulieu 2/0;
Murphy 2/0. Pitches/strikes: Bakey 113/70; Brown 13/7; Jung 17/12; Walsh 53/32;
Willimott 52/33; Beaulieu 25/13; Kirbis 9/4; Murphy 8/7.
Strikeouts - DiBiaso; Fortuna 3; Barbato 2; Hill 2; Donovan; Olson; Daniels; Wood.
Walks - Witkowski; Pennino; Perez; Pasieka 2; Corvino; Donovan.
Umpires - HP: Nik Martinelli 1B: Bob Parker 2B: Woody Gordon 3B: Jeff Arthur
Start: 12:05pm Time: 3:09 Attendance:
Game notes:
Albany eliminated from tournament ... Stony Brook will play the loser of
the Vermont-Maine game, which starts at 4:15pm, later tonight.
Walsh faced 4 batters in the 3rd...
Bakey faced 1 batter in the 8th...
Kirbis faced 2 batters in the 9th.
2006 America East Baseball Championship
Vermont at Maine
May 26, 2006 at Burlington, Vt. (Centennial Field)
Vermont 2 (19-33) Maine 5 (34-20-1)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Carey, Jason lf............ 5 0 2 1 Hough, Joe cf.............. 4 0 2 1
Chapman, Jim ss............ 5 0 2 0 McGraw, Matt dh............ 4 1 0 0
Brault, Kyle rf............ 4 1 1 0 Barrett, Joel 1b........... 4 1 3 0
Nolet, Jeff 1b............. 3 0 0 0 Quintal, Ryan lf........... 2 0 0 1
Fagan, Chris pr............ 0 0 0 0 Smith, Curt ss............. 4 1 1 0
Iannoni, Jay 1b............ 0 0 0 0 McAvoy, Kevin 3b........... 4 0 1 0
Rembisz, Bryan 2b.......... 4 0 0 0 Hackett, Brian 3b......... 0 0 0 0
Naimoli, Matt c............ 3 1 1 1 Ostrander, Mark rf......... 3 2 2 1
Magrass, Miguel dh......... 4 0 1 0 Parker, Sean c............. 4 0 0 0
Massie, Kyle 3b............ 4 0 1 0 Menendez, Danny 2b......... 2 0 2 1
Huntington, Will cf........ 2 0 0 0 Powers, Mike p............. 0 0 0 0
Heppner, Jeff ph........... 1 0 0 0 Zyskowski, Josh p......... 0 0 0 0
Gallipani, Nick cf......... 0 0 0 0 Balsinde, A.J. p.......... 0 0 0 0
Henry, Kyle ph............. 1 0 1 0
Thompson, Eric p........... 0 0 0 0
Bayer, Jeremiah p.......... 0 0 0 0
Marsh, Chris p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 36 2 9 2 Totals..................... 31 5 11 4
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Vermont............. 000 100 100 - 2 9 3
Maine............... 110 120 00X - 5 11 3
-------------------------------------------
E - Chapman(14); Brault(4); Thompson(4); Smith 2(24); Menendez(12). DP - Vermont 1;
Maine 1. LOB - Vermont 9; Maine 8. 2B - Brault(19); Hough(12); Barrett(18);
Ostrander(2). HBP - Ostrander. SH - Naimoli. SF - Quintal; Menendez. SB - Hough(26).
Vermont IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thompson, Eric L,4-3...... 4.2 9 5 3 1 4 0 0 1 0 21 25 4 5 80
Bayer, Jeremiah ........... 3.0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 9 11 2 4 39
Marsh, Chris .............. 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2
Maine IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Powers, Mike W,5-3........ 7.0 7 2 1 0 6 1 0 0 0 28 29 7 6 116
Zyskowski, Josh ........... 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 4 2 0 18
Balsinde, A.J. S,3........ 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 1 2 15
WP - Powers. HB - Thompson. Inherited runners/scored: Bayer 2/0; Marsh 1/0.
Pitches/strikes: Thompson 80/55; Bayer 39/23; Marsh 2/1; Powers 116/74; Zyskowski 18/8;
Balsinde 15/10.
Strikeouts - Carey; Brault 2; Nolet; Magrass; Huntington 2; McGraw; Barrett;
Quintal; McAvoy; Parker. Walks - Nolet; Hough; Quintal; Menendez.
Umpires - HP: Dan Deshaies 1B: Woody Gordon 2B: Warren Bumpus 3B: Nik Martinelli
Start: 7:00pm Time: 2:41 Attendance: 612