Freshmen setting standards for the Hawks
NEW PALTZ, NY- The SUNY New Paltz baseball team concluded the 2009 season on a three game winning streak and finished with a 12-24 overall record and 3-9 in conference play. The Hawks will be losing starting first baseman Tyler Terlecky, starting pitchers Jimmy Donohue and Jonathan Shanks and starting right fielder Devin Scalabrini due to graduation.
There were many bright spots for the Hawks this season, Tyler Terlecky finished eighth in the conference in batting with a .380 average, sixth in hits with 52, sixth in runs batted in with 34 and led the Hawks with 29 runs scored. Tyler moves into fifth all-time with 74 runs batted in for a career and third all-time with 146 career hits. Tyler had an eight game hitting streak to start the season off and than a nine game hitting streak. Junior transfer Clinton Boettcher showed late signs of power as he hit three homeruns over the last ten games he played in, batted .313 over that span with a seven game hitting streak and had nine of his 12 runs batted in.
Senior starting pitcher Jimmy Donohue leaves New Paltz with six career records in his name. He ranks first in games started (34), shut outs (4), pickoffs (24), opponents at-bats (776), strikeouts (161) and innings pitched (199.2). He ranks second all-time with 13 wins and third all-time with 38 appearances in a Hawk uniform.
Freshmen Chris Paulicelli and Paul Merola helped lead a young and talented group of freshmen. Chris was third on the team with 36 hits and batted .327 with a seven game hitting streak, 22 runs scored and had 15 runs batted in on the season to lead all freshmen in batting average. He hit his first career homerun against Briarcliffe in the last game of the season. Paul was second with 42 hits and batted .307 on the year, but was fourth in the conference with a .404 average in conference games. He led the SUNYAC with 17 doubles and missed the schools single-season record by two doubles. He recorded a nine game hitting streak and was one of the Hawks most consistent hitter all year. He finished second on the team with 28 runs scored and had 14 runs batted in. There were five freshman that started at least 20 games and ten freshmen combined to start 176 games this season for the Hawks.
The season began in Phoenix, Arizona against top Division II and Division III baseball teams from Minnesota and North Dakota. The Hawks opened the season against St. Cloud State (Division II) and was swept 19-3 and 9-4. The next day Saint Mary’s scored three in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 11-10 and took game two 6-2. The Hawks picked up their first win of the season against Minot State in game two with a 10-3 win, but fell 5-4 in game one. The Hawks would split with the University of Wisconsin-Stout falling 16-4 in game one and picked up a 4-3 victory in game two. The Hawks would fall to Concordia 9-1 and 7-6 and finished against fifth nationally ranked Eastern Connecticut 13-3 and 14-4 to finish the spring training trip with a 2-10 record.
The Hawks opened regional play on the road against 24th nationally ranked Ithaca College. The Bombers exploded for seven runs in the third inning to defeat the Hawks 12-1.
New Paltz returned home for a seven game home stand, six of which were conference games. Brockport walked away with a 10-3 and 10-4 victory. The Hawks would host Fredonia the next day and would fall behind 3-0 before tying the game and 10-3 before scoring seven in the fifth to tie the game at 10-10. The Blue Devils would outscore the Hawks 12-1 over the final four innings for the 22-11 victory. In game two, senior Jimmy Donohue pitched his first career complete game in a 2-0 victory for the Hawks to improve to 1-3 in conference play.
The Hawks would win their second in a row and fourth of the year as they rallied in the ninth for a 6-5 victory over City College of New York. The Hawks would finish up their home stand with a doubleheader against Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh pulled away from the Hawks with a four run seventh inning for the 7-2 victory. The Hawks bounced back in the nightcap to defeat the Cardinals 7-6 as the Hawks scored four in the eighth to improve to 2-4 in conference and 5-15 overall.
The Hawks visited Mt. St. Mary College for a night game in Newburgh, New York. Mt. St. Mary was 18-3 and receiving votes in d3baseball.com for nationally rankings. The Hawks exploded in the night game for 20 runs on 16 hits as freshman Timmy Chelius picked up his first career win and freshman Pat Sylvester earned his first career save pitching the final three innings of the game. The Hawks cruised for the easy 20-2 victory.
The Hawks would win their third straight and five of six with a win over Baruch College, 10-4. They would finish up their three game home stand being swept by St. Joe’s (LI), 9-3 and 12-4.
The Hawks had a two game set with cross town rival Vassar. The first game was at Vassar on Monday April 13. Battling the Brewers to a tight game, twice the Hawks had a chance to open the game up with the bases loaded, but two double-plays ended the threat and the Brewers were able to hold on for the 7-3 victory. Two days later, the teams met again at Loren Campbell Field. The Brewers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Hawks scored nine in the fifth and five in the eighth for the 15-10 victory.
The Hawks would finish the season with nine of the last ten games on the road. The road trip started against Oswego, where they split with the Lakers, falling 11-1 in game one, but defeated the Lakers 7-2 in the nightcap. The next day, the Hawks visited Cortland for a doubleheader and came up short in game one, 4-3, and fell in the night cap, 11-4. In game one, the Hawks jumped out early scoring two in the first and one in the second for a 3-0 lead. Cortland chipped away scoring two in the fifth and seventh. In the ninth, the Hawks had a chance to tie the game on Clinton Boettcher’s double but the ball bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double that would have easily scored pinch-runner Phillip Parker from first. Cortland would hold on for the 4-3 victory.
Old Westbury was the Hawks last home game of the year and the Hawks fell 19-9 on senior day.
The Hawks would finish conference play against Oneonta on the road with a chance to make the SUNYAC Tournament. The Hawks were unable to get anything going as Oneonta ended the Hawks push to the SUNYAC Tournament with a 6-0 and 18-0 sweep.
The Hawks would finish the season out with a three game winning streak against Lehman College and Briarcliffe. The Hawks swept Lehman 6-5 and 6-1 and held off Division II Briarcliffe 8-6.