BURLINGTON, VT. – Maine plated all five of its runs in the top of the ninth inning to stage a dramatic come-from-behind 5-3 victory over Stony Brook to win the 2006 America East Baseball Championship on Saturday afternoon at Historic Centennial Field. The Black Bears earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will learn their opponent during the selection show live on ESPN Monday at 12:30 p.m.
The Black Bears and the Seawolves were engaged in a defensive battle through six and a half innings as both clubs were held scoreless. In the bottom of the sixth, Stony Brook struck first as Chris Sipp knocked in Isidro Fortuna with a two-out single to give the Seawolves a 1-0 lead. Stony Brook scored again in the seventh as Chris DiBiaso came home on a Troy Martin wild pitch to stretch SBU's bulge to 2-0.
Stony Brook sent Nick Abel to the mound to pitch the ninth inning and the Black Bears were finally able to get on the board. Curt Smith got the Maine rally started as he singled through the left side. Kevin McAvoy singled to center to move Smith to second before Mark Ostrander doubled to left-center, scoring McAvoy and givng Maine its first run of the contest.
Gary Novakowski then entered to pitch for Abel and the Black Bears bats continued to come alive. Back-to-back singles by Sean Parker and Danny Menendez scored two more for Maine. Joel Barrett later singled to plate Menendez to give the game its final 5-3 margin. Maine's victory marked the fifth title in school history.
Mark Ostrander was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as he went 5-for-10 (.500) with two runs batted in and four runs scored to pace the Black Bears over the three-day event. Ostrander was joined on the All-Championship Team by teammates AJ Balsinde, Joel Barrett, Sean Parker and Mike Powers, Stony Brook's Jon Pasieka, Andres Perez and Matt Restivo, Vermont's Jason Carey and Albany's Steve Wyland.
2006 America East Baseball Championship
Stony Brook at Vermont
May 27, 2006 at Burlington, Vt. (Centennial Field)
Stony Brook 2 (25-28) Vermont 1 (19-34)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Witkowski, Brian cf........ 5 1 1 0 Carey, Jason lf............ 3 0 1 1
Sipp, Chris 2b............. 5 1 0 0 Chapman, Jim ss............ 4 0 0 0
Pennino, Tom 1b............ 4 0 0 0 Brault, Kyle rf............ 4 0 1 0
Perez, Andres 3b........... 3 0 2 1 Nolet, Jeff dh............. 3 0 0 0
Pasieka, Jon c............. 4 0 2 1 Magrass, Miguel ph........ 1 0 0 0
DiBiaso, Chris ss.......... 4 0 0 0 Naimoli, Matt c............ 4 0 2 0
Leonard, Robert rf......... 3 0 2 0 Iannoni, Jay 1b............ 4 0 0 0
Fortuna, Isidro dh......... 3 0 1 0 Massie, Kyle 3b............ 2 1 0 0
Milani, Peter lf........... 3 0 1 0 Morris, Chad 2b............ 2 0 1 0
Restivo, Matt p............ 0 0 0 0 Huntington, Will cf........ 3 0 1 0
Rembisz, Bryan p/dh........ 0 0 0 0
Marsh, Chris p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 34 2 9 2 Totals..................... 30 1 6 1
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Stony Brook......... 100 001 000 - 2 9 0
Vermont............. 001 000 000 - 1 6 1
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E - Chapman. DP - Stony Brook 2; Vermont 3. LOB - Stony Brook 9; Vermont 5. 2B -
Perez(11); Milani(5). 3B - Perez(2). HBP - Leonard; Milani. SH - Morris.
Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Restivo, Matt W,3-7....... 9.0 6 1 1 2 6 0 0 0 0 30 33 6 13 123
Vermont IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rembisz, Bryan L,2-8...... 6.2 5 2 1 2 3 1 0 2 0 24 28 10 5 85
Marsh, Chris .............. 2.1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 10 4 2 16
WP - Rembisz. HB - Rembisz 2. Inherited runners/scored: None. Pitches/strikes: Restivo
123/80; Rembisz 85/51; Marsh 16/14.
Strikeouts - Witkowski; Fortuna; Milani; Chapman; Brault; Nolet; Naimoli; Iannoni;
Morris. Walks - Perez; Fortuna; Carey; Massie.
Umpires - HP: Bob Parker 1B: Warren Bumpus 2B: Jeff Arthur 3B: Dan Deshaies
Start: 12:00pm Time: 2:23 Attendance:
2006 America East Baseball Championship
Maine vs Stony Brook
May 27, 2006 at Burlington, Vt. (Centennial Field)
Maine 5 (35-20-1) Stony Brook 3 (25-29)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Hough, Joe cf.............. 4 0 1 0 Witkowski, Brian cf........ 5 1 1 0
McGraw, Matt dh............ 4 0 3 1 Sipp, Chris 2b............. 5 0 1 1
Barrett, Joel 1b........... 5 0 2 1 Pennino, Tom 1b............ 5 0 2 1
Quintal, Ryan lf........... 4 0 0 0 Perez, Andres 3b........... 5 0 1 0
Smith, Curt ss............. 4 1 1 0 Pasieka, Jon c............. 4 0 0 0
McAvoy, Kevin 3b........... 4 1 2 0 DiBiaso, Chris ss.......... 4 1 2 0
Hackett, Brian 3b.......... 0 0 0 0 Leonard, Robert rf......... 4 0 1 0
Ostrander, Mark rf......... 4 1 2 1 Fortuna, Isidro dh......... 3 1 1 0
Parker, Sean c............. 4 1 1 1 Milani, Peter lf........... 3 0 2 0
Menendez, Danny 2b......... 4 1 2 1 Errigo, Mike p............. 0 0 0 0
Mendoza, Jose p............ 0 0 0 0 Jung, Kurt p.............. 0 0 0 0
Martin, Troy p............. 0 0 0 0 Abel, Nick p.............. 0 0 0 0
Balsinde, A.J. p........... 0 0 0 0 Novakowski, Gary p........ 0 0 0 0
Brown, Marc p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 37 5 14 5 Totals..................... 38 3 11 2
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Maine............... 000 000 005 - 5 14 0
Stony Brook......... 000 000 111 - 3 11 0
-------------------------------------------
DP - Stony Brook 1. LOB - Maine 8; Stony Brook 11. 2B - Barrett(19); McAvoy(12);
Ostrander(3); Witkowski(3). SH - Hough. SF - McGraw. SB - Perez(5). CS - McGraw.
Maine IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mendoza, Jose ............. 7.2 9 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 32 35 15 6 115
Martin, Troy W,7-4........ 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 7
Balsinde, A.J. S,4........ 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 1 2 19
Stony Brook IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Errigo, Mike .............. 5.1 5 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 19 20 7 5 73
Jung, Kurt ................ 2.2 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 11 5 3 42
Abel, Nick L,2-2.......... 0.0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 14
Novakowski, Gary .......... 0.2 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 1 1 14
Brown, Marc ............... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 5
WP - Martin; Jung. Inherited runners/scored: Martin 3/1; Jung 1/0; Novakowski 2/2; Brown
1/0. Pitches/strikes: Mendoza 115/70; Martin 7/4; Balsinde 19/14; Errigo 73/49; Jung
42/27; Abel 14/9; Novakowski 14/10; Brown 5/3.
Strikeouts - Hough; McGraw; Witkowski; Perez. Walks - Quintal; Pasieka; Fortuna;
Milani.
Umpires - HP: Woody Gordon 1B: Jeff Arthur 2B: Nik Martinelli 3B: Bob Parker
Start: 3:35pm Time: 2:44 Attendance: 476
Abel faced 3 batters in the 9th.