PATCHOGUE, NY - (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - No. 2 SUNY Old Westbury (25-9) and No. 3 Farmingdale State Rams (19-17) met in the Skyline Conference Baseball Championship round for the sixth-consecutive season Sunday afternoon from Gregg Alfano Field in Patchogue, New York. The Rams forced a game two on Championship Sunday with a 5-4 win in 10 innings before the Panthers answered with a 11-4 victory to claim the 2015 title. Tyler Kapela was named Tournament MVP after pitching the Panthers to game two's victory.
With the win, Old Westbury earns the Skyline Conference's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship. The Panthers will make its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, having last advanced in 2001.
The Panthers have two non-conference regular season games left on the schedule this week before the announcement of the NCAA Tournament late next Sunday (May 10) night.
Game One: Farmingdale State 5, Old Westbury 4 (10 Inn.)
Old Westbury threatened Rams' starting right-hander Matt Seelinger (3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K) in the top of the first with a pair of singles, but were unable to come away with the early run.
The Rams answered in the bottom of the first with a two-run double by Ryan Osburn (2-for-5, 3 RBI, R) for an early 2-0 lead off Panther starting right-hander Nick Dorcean (6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, K).
Jacob Coners worked a two-out walk off Seelinger to extend the third inning. Coners then stole second and scored off Eddie Hernandez's (2-for-4, RBI) single to slice the deficit in half.
Seelinger walked Christian Faust to lead off the fourth before left-handed reliever Kevin Cashman took over. Faust moved to second off Dean Sheridan's sacrifice bunt and scored two batters later off Tommy Ziegen's RBI single.
Farmingdale State took a 3-2 lead off a throwing error by catcher Brandon Stein, which allowed John Spirito to score the go-ahead run. Lefty Nick Schoen spelled Dorcean, and induced a double play to escape out of the jam.
Joey Walsh (2-for-4, RBI, R) slapped a single to right field in the ninth inning and advanced to third off right fielder Michael Marino's fielding error. Right-hander Alex Pangourelias uncorked a wild pitch to score Walsh for the game-tying run after taking over for lefty reliever David Otero Jr.
Faust led off the 10th with a single. Pinch runner Joemar Wilson then advanced to second off Sheridan's sacrifice bunt. Pangourelias placed Jonathan Pagan (0-for-3, 3 BB) on first with an intentional walk. Ziegen followed with an infield ground out to move runners along for pinch hitterRobert Crocitto, who walked to load the bases. Righty Kevin Martinez (1-0, 0 H) took over for Pangourelias, who hit Walsh with a pinch to put the Panthers ahead.
Righty Tim Ingram (7-3, 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB) was called on to close out the game in the tenth for Old Westbury. Marino (0-for-1, 2 R, 2 BB) led off the frame with a walk. He then stole second and scored off Osburn's game-tying RBI double. Following a pair of intentional walks, and a sacrifice bunt, Osburn advanced home to score the game-winning run off third baseman Jesse Matos' throwing error.
Game Two: Old Westbury 11, Farmingdale State 4
Old Westbury's offense erupted in the opening frame off Rams' starting right-hander Matthew Fick (1-1, 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB) to the tune of four runs on three hits. Coners (2-for-5, 2 R, RBI, BB) led off with a walk and scored two batters later off Faust's (2-for-4, 2 RBI, R) RBI single for the game's initial run. Following a wild pitch and a walk, Martinez was called on for relief work. Pagan (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB) welcomed him with a RBI single, and two batters later, Stein (2-for-4, 2 RBI) ripped a two-run single to center field for Old Westbury's early advantage.
Farmingdale State sliced its deficit in half with Osburn's two-run double off starting right-hander Kapela (2-1, 9 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 2 K) in the first inning.
The Rams trimmed its deficit in the second inning to make it a 4-3 game with Richard Sullivan scoring off Ryan Jordan's infield ground out.
Pagan led off Old Westbury's third with a double and scored the game-winning run off a throwing error by right-handed reliever Reilly after advancing to third off Ziegen's (2-for-3, R, BB) bunt for the Panthers' 5-3 advantage.
Farmingdale State made it a one-score game in the fourth when Domenic Palumbo stroked a one-out single and scored three batters later after advancing home as Anthony McQuade was thrown out stealing second.
Michael Cardino (2-for-5, 2 R) led off the sixth with a double and scored two batters later off Faust's sacrifice fly out to right field to give the Panthers a two-run lead.
Old Westbury put the game out of reach with six runs scored in the seventh to make it a seven-run game, sparked by Walsh's (2-for-5, RBI, R) RBI triple. Nick Yip(2-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, R, BB) closed the scoring books with a three-run home run for the 11-4 final.
In total, Old Westbury's 1-9 hitters all broke into the hit column, including eight players with multi-hit performances.
