NYIT baseball advances to Division II College World Series
NYIT players, led by catcher Matt Malone, center, and EJ Cumbo, left, celebrate after winning their NCAA Division II Super Regional at Penman Field in Hooksett, NH on Saturday, May 25, 2019. Credit: Winslow Townson
HOOKSETT, N.H. -- Ben McNeill squeezed the final out and NYIT had punched its ticket to the NCAA Division II College World Series.
How fitting that the senior starting shortstop of four years, who endured three straight losing seasons, had the opportunity to seize the final infield popup.
“I’m getting underneath the ball and thinking is this really happening,” McNeill said. “I never really thought as much about the winning as I did this year when we started to roll. And then all things were possible. This is a turnaround for the ages.”
EJ Cumbo blasted a three-run home run to key a four-run first inning and set the tone for NYIT to beat Southern New Hampshire, 6-3, and claim the school’s first NCAA D-II Super Regional at Penmen Field..
NYIT lefty reliever Joe Keller pitched two-hit shutout ball over the final 4 and 1/3 innings to record the win as the Bears dethroned Southern New Hampshire, the defending East Regional champions.
NYIT improved its record-breaking season record to 37-14 a vast improvement over last year’s 13-25-1 finish. And to think the Bears only won five games in 2017 holds an even deeper meaning to the players that endured those difficult years.
“Last night was a sleepless night for me,” said Bears first-year head coach Frank Catalanotto. “There was so much at stake for these guys and I truly wanted to see them finish in a big way. I’m so proud of their dedication and testament to the hard work that we asked of them and to the mentality that we were a good club and we could turn this thing around.”
Catalanotto said he was told that coming into the program that expectations were that it would take time to start the winning – a few years at least.
“It begins and ends with guys that buy into the program,” Catalanotto. “It’s always about the work ethic and taking the instruction and performing. It’s simply amazing that we’re one of the final eight teams left in the country and we’re headed to the College World Series.
The NCAA’s national baseball committee will meet Sunday morning to decide the seeds for the World Series in Cary, North Carolina which begins on June 1.
NYIT jumped all over Southern New Hampshire starter Endy Morales in the first inning. Morales, who came in with three straight complete games, never got out of the first inning. Leadoff man Ben McNeill greeted him with a line drive single and John LaRocca laid down the perfect bunt for an infield single. The ensuing throw from catcher Dakota Mulcay sailed into rightfield allowing the runners to move to second and third.
EJ Cumbo, the Bears leading hitter at .452, crushed a three-run home run to rightfield, well into the trees that line Penmen Field.
“It was an early statement and definitely set the tone,” Cumbo said. “It was a 1-0 changeup and a little up in the zone. I barreled it up pretty good.”
The Bears weren’t done, Jake Lebel singled and moved to second on a ground out. Matt DeAngelis walked and SNU coach Scott Louiseau had seen enough and came out to remove Morales.
SNU reliever Wesley Tobin recorded the second out before giving up an RBI single to Ryan Kuskowski for the 4-0 lead.
The Bears added a run in the fourth on a LaRocca RBI single to make it 5-0. But SNU inched back into the game when NYIT starter Joe Murphy, who had thrown four shutout innings, allowed an infield single and three walks. Reliever Chris Keenan came on and hit a batter and walked another forcing in two runs. Keller came in and defused the three-run rally when he got a bases loaded, inning-ending ground out to preserve the 5-3 lead.
“He doesn’t get rattled and he throws strikes,” said NYIT pitching coach Chris Rojas. “We needed him right there and he was ready.”
LaRocca added an insurance run in the sixth when he laced another RBI single for the final margin.
“I pitch with confidence because our defense is so good,” Keller said of an NYIT defense turned seven double plays in the two games. “This is just fantastic for everyone. We all played a role in this championship.”
Keller’s was the key.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
