May 2009- Newswire - Athletics

May 2009

The CCRI Knights baseball team lost in the deciding game of the East District Championship 7-2. With the loss the Knights’ final record in 32-11 and Monroe Community College advances to the NJCAA Division II National Championship in Oklahoma May 23-29th.

On the mound for the Knights Ben Hanson (Fiskeville, RI) got the start and pitched very well allowing just two earned runs over five and a third innings on five hits while striking out three Tribune batters. Hanson was relieved by Matt Thadeio (West Greenwich, RI) who got into a little trouble over one and two thirds innings allowing five runs, three earned on four hits, walking one (intentionally) and a strikeout. Colin McMaster (Elma, WA) pitched two scoreless innings allowing just two hits. Solid pitching performance all around with one bad inning in the seventh which was aided by an error and some clutch hitting from the Tribunes to break the game open.

At the plate for the Knights Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) led the way with a home run, followed by Stefan Wagner (Freemont, NH) who went 2-4 with two singles and two RBI, and Colt McCutcheon (St. Augustine, FL) went 2-5 with two singles. In addition, Mike Mahoney (Warwick, RI), Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA), Anthony Vinci (Trumbull, CT), and Co-Captain Joe Comella (Johnston, RI) each added a hit to the Knights’ offensive attack. The Knights just couldn’t piece together enough offense to overcome the rough seventh inning.

On a positive note the Knight had a spectacular season that included Head Coach Ken Hopkins becoming the third CCRI baseball coach to record his 200th victory (“Whitey” Fell 255, Art Pontarelli 222). Hopkins career record now stands at 217-106-2. In addition, The CCRI team earned the Sportsmanship Award for Region XXI, a testament to the class program the Hopkins and his coaching staff run. Individually the Knights had four All-Region XXI members including: Joe Correia (Burrillville, RI) earning defensive player of the year, Kyle Borden and Dave Krasnowiecki (Cranston, RI) making first team along with All-Region XXI selection and Region XXI Player of the Year Lou Tarantino (Trumbull, CT).

Great Season Knights!

Dimon’s gem puts Knights in final game of East District Championship!

The CCRI Knights defeated the Tribunes of Monroe Community College 8-4 in game four of the NJCAA East District Championship Tournament. With the victory the Knights improve their record to 32-10 on the season and force the decoding game in the East District Championship with the winner advancing to the NJCAA Division II National Championship May 23-29th in Oklahoma.

On the mound for the Knights Jim Dimon (Seymour, CT) threw a gem allowing just four runs, three earned on 10 hits while striking gout five Tribune batters. Dimon’s line was even more impressive as he only allowed one earned run through the first eight innings before giving-up a two run home run in the ninth inning when the game was pretty much already in hand. Dimon’s performance held Tribunes’ bats in check while the Knights’ offense did the rest.

At the plate for the Knights Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) went 1-4 and got the offense rolling in the first inning with a two RBI double giving the Knights a quick 2-0 cushion. In the second inning the Knights’ bats stayed hot as Colt McCutcheon (St. Augustine, FL) who was 1-4 on the day doubled home Stefan Wagner (Freemont, NH) and Anthony Vinci (North Providence, RI). Later in the second inning Lou Tarantino (Trumbull, CT) who went 3-5 on the day would double home McCutcheon and Mike Mahoney (Warwick, RI) giving the Knights a 6-0 lead, they added one more to make the score 7-0 after two innings. Mahoney had three hits on the day all singles and Vinci went 3-4 including his first career home run to lead-off the third inning, while Stefan Wagner added two hits and two RBI. The eight runs were all the support Dimon would need as the Knights would cruise to the 8-4 victory.

The Knights will send Ben Hanson (Fiskeville, RI) to the mound to start the Championship game of the East District Tournament for a berth in the NJCAA Division II Baseball National Championship in Oklahoma..

Knights go 1-1 on first day of Baseball Districts now must beat Monroe CC twice to advance to Nationals!

The CCRI Knights baseball team defeated Dutchess Community College in game one of the Eastern District Tournament 7-4. In game two of the tournament Monroe Community College defeated Dutchess CC 4-1, the loss eliminated Dutchess from the double elimination tournament. In game three of the tournament Monroe CC defeated the Knights 4-0. Day two of the tournament was scheduled for Sunday but was postponed due to poor field conditions. CCRI must defeat Monroe CC twice to advance to the National Tournament while Monroe only has to defeat CCRI once to advance to the Nationals. The East District Tournament will continue Monday the 18th with the first game at 1:00pm and the second game, if needed, will be at 4:00pm.

Game 1
CCRI-7 Dutchess-4
On the mound for the Knights AJ Rataic (East Hartford, CT) was in complete control, throwing eight very strong innings allowing four earned runs on four hits, walking three and striking out nine Dutchess batters to improve his record to 7-1 on the season. Rataic was relieved by Matt Thadeio (West Greenwich, RI) who threw a scoreless ninth striking out one to pick up his fifth save of the year.

At the plate for the Knights Matt Nassi (North Providence, RI) went 1-3 with a double and two RBI followed by Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) who went 1-4 with a run scored and two RBI and Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) went 1-2 with two runs scored. The Knights provided just enough offense to get by a very scrappy Dutchess baseball squad.

Game 2
Monroe CC-4 Dutchess CC-1
No report.

Game 3
CCRI-0 Monroe CC-4
On the mound for the Knights Dave Krasnowiecki (Cranston, RI) pitched very well but was the hard-luck loser throwing seven very strong innings allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits, walking four and striking out six Tribune batters to fall to 8-2 on the season. Krasnowiecki was relieved by Colin McMaster (Elma, WA) who pitched one inning giving-up an unearned run.

At the plate for the Knights Lou Tarantino (Trumbull, CT) led the way going 3-4 with a double followed by Colt McCutcheon (St. Augustine. FL) who went 1-4 with a double and Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) went 1-4. Not enough offense to support a solid outing on the mound from Krasnowiecki and McMaster.

The Knights and Tribunes are back in action on Monday May 18th game one will begin at 1:00pm and if the Knights win game two will begin at 4:00pm with the winner moving on to the NJCAA Division II baseball National Tournament in Oklahoma May 23-29.

Final Tally: Knights’ best finish since 1992 at the Division III Men’s Tennis Nationals!

Without any finalists, the Knights had to wait it out through the last day of the tournament to see what position they would end up in. At the end of the day, CCRI’s first top five finish in 17 years was confirmed! The CCRI Men’s Tennis team officially finished fifth at the 2009 NJCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Tournament, the Knight’s best finish since 1992 when they placed fourth under then-legendary-coach, Ray Carr. Carr’s 1992 team finished the regular season 7-2 with one shutout (9-0). They won the New England Regional Tournament earning a berth at the National Tournament. They placed fourth at Nationals. This year’s team finished the regular season 7-2 with one shutout (a 9-0 win on April 4th at Nassau Community College). As a result of Holyoke CC, the only other DIII community college in the New England Region to have a tennis team, dropping their program following the 2008 campaign, CCRI automatically qualified for participation at the National Tournament. With an amazing 7-0 first day, amassing 14 points, CCRI was poised to finish strong in this year’s tournament. Reality set in though for days two and three, however, as the tournament seeds joined the action, and CCRI was able to earn only four additional points. The 18 points, however, was the best in recent history and ended up good enough to edge out Kingsborough Community College (NY) who finished in 6th with 17.5 points.

The Final Standings for the 2009 NJCAA Division III Men’s National Tournament are:
1st place – Oxford College (Oxford, GA) – 34 points
2nd place – Suffolk County College (Selden, NY) – 29.5 points
3rd place – Onondaga Community College (Syracuse, NY) – 27 points
4th place – Gloucester County College (Sewell, NJ) – 25 points
5th place – Community College of Rhode Island – 18 points
6th place – Kingsborough Community College (Brooklyn, NY) – 17.5 points
7th place – Ocean County College (Toms River, NJ) – 15.5 points
8th place – College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL) – 14.5 points
9th place – Rock Valley College (Rockford, IL) – 5.5 points
10th place – Herkimer County Community College (Herkimer, NY) – 2 points
11th place – Eastfield College (Dallas, TX) – 1 point

For the Knights, Alex Cavanagh (Middletown, RI) earned 3.5 points, Nathan York (Smithfield, RI) earned 1.5 points, Michael Wilbur (Scituate, RI) earned 3 points, Daniel Rivard (Scituate, RI) earned 3 points, Christopher Izzo (Warwick, RI) earned 3.5 points and James Lachance (Cranston, RI) earned 3.5 points at the 2009 NJCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Nationals.

Congratulations to the 2009 Men’s Tennis Knights!!

Day Three: Suffolk squashes the Knights’ chances at Men’s Tennis Nationals

Day Three of the 2009 NJCAA Men’s Tennis Nationals finished off CCRI Men’s Tennis. In semifinals action Alex Cavanagh (Middletown, RI) and Nathan York (Smithfield, RI) faced-off against the No. 2 seeds, Erik Forsythe and Zach Schulz from Suffolk County Community College. The Suffolk players were just too much for the Knights as they prevailed 6-1, 6-1. It was the first loss of the season for the first doubles pair of the Knights. Third doubles partners, Christopher Izzo (Warwick, RI) and James Lachance (Cranston, RI) faced No. 2 seeds, Kyle Lastra and Matt St. James, also from Suffolk County Community College. Izzo and Lachance couldn’t manage more than two games either as they succumbed 6-2, 6-0, finishing off the Knights participation in the 2009 NJCAA Men’s Tennis Nationals.

CCRI finished with a total of 18 points, and will have to wait it out to see if they can retain their current fifth-place position in the tournament. It would be the best finish for CCRI since the 1992, fourth-place finish under Ray Carr. Cavanagh and York finish third in the nation in flight one doubles, having defeated the other semifinal losers, Taylor Devlin and Steve Suboleski from Gloucester County College (NJ) in the regular-season meeting of the two teams. Izzo and Lachance, the only unseeded team to make it into the semifinals, finish fourth in the nation in flight three doubles, as all three other semifinalists were the top three seeds in the tournament.

Day Two dashes the Championship hopes for the Knights at the Men’s Tennis Nationals

Day One of the 2009 NJCAA Men’s Tennis Nationals was one of the best days ever for CCRI Men’s Tennis. Day Two, however, was a different story. Mother Nature of course had to put her stamp on the day as well, delaying play for an hour with light mist and overcast conditions that provided for treacherous, slippery on-court conditions. By 9:00 the courts were playable, so the tournament continued with the DIII teams at Allen High School (Allen, TX). The Knights started the day with 14 points, in first place overall, and with all nine positions still in play in the main draw of the tournament.

Alex Cavanagh (Middletown, RI) took the courts in flight one singles against the No. 2 seed Emilio Casillas of Oxford College (GA). Casillas is the second ranked singles player in the ITA for DIII schools, Alex is fifth. The pairing provided what has to be the match of the tournament thus far and possibly for the whole tournament. Cavanagh jumped out to an early break, and never really looked back in the first set, posting a 6-2 set one victory. Cavanagh then took an early break in the second set, as the seeded Casillas couldn’t find an answer to the serve-and-volley style of Cavanagh. Facing match points at 4-5 on Cavanagh’s serve, Casillas found something, and broke back to even the set at 5-5. After each player held serve they entered into a tiebreak to decide the second set. Cavanagh trailed in the tiebreak the entire way, succumbing 7-5 in the tiebreak with Casillas evening the match at one set all. The third was another scrappy affair as both players traded service holds until Cavanagh was serving at 4-5. A couple of tough volleys that sailed just long (Casillas, unlike Cavanagh gave no benefit of the doubt with anything close the entire match) proved to be Alex’s ultimate undoing as he was once again broken, this time for the match, 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4. The match took almost three hours and was easily the match of the day, if not the tournament.

In second singles, Nathan York (Smithfield, RI) faced off against Dave Reich of Gloucester County College (NJ), falling 6-1, 6-4 in a match was actually much closer than the score would suggest. In flight three singles the Knight’s Michael Wilbur (Scituate, RI) faced the third seed, Tyler Schulz of Suffolk County Community College (NY). Wilbur would have faced Schulz in the regular season, but we were rained out on April 3rd. Schulz used his experience, and the fact that Wilbur broke a string in the second game of the match, to post a 6-0, 6-2 victory. In fourth singles the Knight’s Daniel Rivard (Scituate, RI) faced Ken Kadar, also of Suffolk County Community College (NY). Kadar epitomized what has become sort of a trademark of SCCC players, as he made snide comments, poor line calls, and displayed overall poor sportsmanship, however still winning 6-1, 6-0 over the still-hobbled Rivard. Rivard had rolled his ankle on the last day of practice before leaving for Texas last week. One of Rivard’s most dangerous weapons is his mobility, and the injury is really taking away from his game. In fifth singles the Knight’s James Lachance (Cranston, RI) faced the No. 2 seed in flight five, Jeff Kurtz of Onondaga Community College (NY) and dropped the contest 6-2, 6-2. In sixth singles the Knight’s Chris Izzo (Warwick, RI) took to the courts holding CCRI’s last hope in the singles draw, and battled Zeke Smith of Ocean County College (NJ) before succumbing, 6-4, 7-5.

The Knights hopes for team glory faded with the results in the singles, but the hopes for individual glory were still open in the doubles draw. Cavanagh and York were awarded a walkover as their opponents from Eastfield College didn’t show. They will face the No. 2 seeds, Erik Forsythe and Zach Schulz from Suffolk County Community College, in the semifinals Wednesday at 1:00pm. Rivard and Wilbur teamed up in second doubles for a three-set battle again, this time falling to Zeke Smith and Dan Yarbrough of Ocean County College (NJ) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The final match of the day pitted the Knight’s Izzo and Lachance against Rohan Hope Jr. and Virgilio Rivera of Kingsborough Community College (NYC). Izzo and Lachance prevailed 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 in the third doubles contest. They will face the No. 2 seeds, Kyle Lastra and Matt St. James from Suffolk County Community College, in the semifinals also tomorrow at 1:00pm. CCRI currently has 19 points in the tournament. There are only 4 more points at stake for CCRI our best hope would be for a fourth-place finish overall, and for two doubles teams’ National Champions. Stay tuned for more updates.

CCRI Men’s Tennis at the 2009 NJCAA National Tournament
May 9-14th Plano/Allen, Texas
Co-captain Alexander Cavanagh, Co-captain Nate York, Christopher Izzo, Michael Wilbur
Daniel Rivard, James Lachance, Ryan Lavoie, Javier Juarez

Knights off to best-ever start Day One of the Division III Men’s Tennis Nationals!

Day One of the NJCAA Men’s Tennis National Tournament is usually about showcasing the host college – Collin County Community College – site and features the play of the play-in matches to get to the meat of the tournament on Day Two. Mother Nature, however, had other designs. Waking up to heavy rains and thunder and lightning for the start of the 2009 Men’s tennis National Tournament, it was uncertain whether the Knights from CCRI would get in any matches on Day One. At 1:00p the skies cleared and by 2:00 the courts were playable, so the DIII teams were moved away from the college, to Allen High School (Allen, TX) for the start of the 2009 edition of the tournament. The rain and the rescheduling of the DIII matches from the host College site couldn’t dampen the spirits of the CCRI Knights Men’s Tennis team as they took to the courts. In fact, the CCRI men’s tennis team had possibly the best day in the history of CCRI Tennis on Day One of the 2009 Nationals. After getting shut out of the seeding, the CCRI men took to the courts in seven out of nine possible positions. At the end of the day, CCRI emerged victorious in all seven positions to take 14 points and finish Day One all alone in First place in the DIII bracket.

In flight one singles Alex Cavanagh (Middletown, RI) defeated Nick Cittadino of Ocean County College (NJ) 6-4, 6-3. In flight three singles the Knight’s Michael Wilbur (Scituate, RI) posted an identical 6-4, 6-3 victory over Alon Salman of Kingsborough Community College (NYC). In what was probably the match of the day, in flight four singles the Knight’s Daniel Rivard (Scituate, RI) overcame a 1-5 deficit in the third, winning six straight games to complete the third set 7-5 and win the match 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 over Joe Ziemann of Rock Valley College (IL). In fifth singles the Knight’s James Lachance (Cranston, RI) outlasted Rafael Ortiz of Eastfield College (TX) 6-2, 7-5. In sixth singles the Knight’s Chris Izzo (Warwick, RI) battled Jordan Rafferty of Rock Valley College (IL) in the longest match of the day, prevailing 6-7 (8-6), 6-3, 6-0. Rivard and Wilbur teamed up in second doubles to defeat James Foster and Phat Le of Eastfield College (TX) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The final match of the day pitted CCRI’s Izzo and Lachance against Ezel Lacsamana and Rafael Ortiz of Eastfield College (TX). Izzo and Lachance prevailed 6-1, 6-4 as darkness (and more ominous storm clouds) advanced.

With 14 Day one points, CCRI sits atop the DIII bracket, above currently second-place Gloucester County College (NJ) who was also perfect on the day winning all five of their Day One matches and earning 10 points themselves. The Knights have a chance to make history as no other team in the history of the tournament that was in first place after Day One has gone on to win the tournament.

The Knights look to continue their winning ways Tuesday in all six Singles matches and all three Doubles matches. Stay tuned for more updates.

NJCAA Division III Men’s Tennis National Championship draw released!

The CCRI Men’s Tennis team opens up the National Tournament on Monday at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas. Five of the Knights six singles players will see action on the first day with one playing Tuesday. In doubles action two teams will play today with one on Tuesday.

Alex Cavanaugh (Middletown, RI) will take the court at 11:45 AM (Central Time) versus Nick Cittadino of Ocean County College in first singles. The winner will advance to play Tuesday at 8:00 AM versus Emilio Casillas who is ranked No. 2 in the first singles flight.

Other Knights taking the court at 11:45 on Monday feature Michael Wilbur (Scituate, RI) vs. Alon Salman of Kingsborough CC with the winner advancing to face Tyler Schulz of Suffolk County CC the No.3 ranked player in the third flight Tuesday at 8:00 AM. Daniel Rivard (Scituate, RI) will be facing off against Joe Ziemann of Rock Valley College with the winner moving on to face Ken Kadar the No. 3 seed in fourth singles of Suffolk County CC at 9:45 AM Tuesday.

James Lachance (Cranston, RI) who will square off against Rafael Ortiz of Eastfield College at 1:00 PM, with the winner moving on to play Jeff Kurtz of Onondaga CC the No. 2 ranked player in flight five singles. Rounding our day one for the Knights will be Christopher Izzo (Warwick, RI) will also start play at 1:00 PM facing Jordan Rafferty of Rock Valley College with the winner moving on to face unseeded Zeke Smith of Ocean County College.

The last singles player for the Knight’s is Nate York (Greenville, RI) who received a first round bye in flight two singles and will not play until 8:00 AM Tuesday (May 12th) morning. York will face the winner of Dave Reich of Gloucester CC or Slobodan Jevtovic from College of DuPage.

The Knights’ No. 1 doubles team of Alex Cavanaugh and Nate York was the only Knights double team to receive a bye in the first round. Weirdly they are ranked No 1 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) but are seeded but they did get a bye and will start play on Tuesday morning at 10:30 AM against Eastfield College’s tandem of Or Barnea and Sy Pham.

The two other Knights doubles teams will play on Monday. Michael Wilbur and Daniel Rivard versus James Foster and Phat Le of Eastfield College and James Lachance and Christopher Izzo verses Ezel Lacsamana and Rafael Ortiz also from Eastfield College. Both matches will start at 3:30.

CCRI Knights men’s track team finishes 16th at NJCAA Nationals!

The CCRI Knights and Lady Knights track teams traveled to Alfred State College in Alfred NY to participate in the NJCAA Division III Track & Field National Championships. The CCRI Knights men’s track team scored seven points and finished in 16th place out of 21 teams at the NJCAA Track & Field National Championships. Unfortunately, the CCRI Lady Knights track team failed to score at the National Championships.

Mike Fernandes (Providence, RI) led the Knights placing 5th in the Javelin with a 45.32 meter throw. Fernandes came back to place placed 20th in the 100m in a time of 11.94. Everett LaMountain (Smithfield, RI) placed 6th in the 1500m run in a time of 4 minutes 15.88 seconds. LaMountain came back to place 9th in the 800m with a personal-best time of 2:01.13 and 12th in the 5,000 meters in a time of 17:12.10.

Other CCRI finishers included Joe Frederickson (Scituate, RI) placing 12th in the Javelin with a throw of 39.88m and 17th finish in the 400m run by Kayleigh Smith (Cumberland, RI) in a time of 1:09.78. This was a great finish to an excellent season for the Knights and Lady Knights track teams.

Knights Win Region XXI Baseball Championship!
Kyle Borden named MVP!

The CCRI Knights Baseball team won the first two games of the best of three series with the Pointers of UConn-Avery Point. The Knights won the first game 6-5 on Friday and won the second game 7-4 today. With the victories the Knights imporve to 30-9 on the season, win the Region XXI Championship and advance to the District Tournament next weekend against the Region III and Region XV Champions.

Game 1
CCRI-6 UCAP-5
On the mound for the Knights Jim Dimon (Seymour, CT) was unbelievable throwing nine strong innings allowing five runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out 10 Pointers to improve his record to 5-3 on the season. Dimon kept a very potent Pointers' line-up off balance all day and the Knights' offense did the rest.

At the Plate for the Knights Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) stepped-up like leaders do and went 4-5 with two home runs, a double, with three runs scored and four RBI. Borden was helped by Lou Tarantino (Trumbull, CT) who went 3-5 with two runs scored, Colt McCutcheon (St.Augustine, FL) 1-5 with a home run and Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) was 1-3 with an RBI and two walks. With the win in game one the Knights improve to 29-9 on the season.

Game 2
CCRI-7 UCAP-4
On the mound for the Knights Dave Krasnowiecki (Cranston, RI) shut down the Pointers over nine innings allowing four earned runs on nine hits striking out 10 and walking four to improve his season record to 8-1. Krasnowiecki's great effort on the mound was rewarded with plenty of Knights' offense as the secured the Region XXI Championship.

At the plate for the Knights the Pointers chose to pitch around the eventual Tournament MVP Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) but he still managed to go 1-2 with and RBI two runs scored and two walks. Borden was backed by Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) who went 1-3 with a key RBI double in the fifth inning, Matt Nassi (North Providence, RI) who went 2-3 with a double and an RBI and Anthony Vinci (Trumbull, CT) went 1-3 with an RBI. The Knights' offense continued with Lou Tarantino (Trumbull, CT) going 1-4 with two RBI and Colt MCutcheon (St. Augustine, FL) went 1-2 with two walks, two stolen bases and a run scored. With the victory the Knights improve to 30-9 on the season.

Knights gear-up for Region XXI Championship versus UConn-Avery Point starting Friday!

The CCRI Knights baseball team (28-9) will face the Region XXI baseball rival Pointers of UConn-Avery Point (UCAP) (30-7) from Groton, CT for the 2009 Region XXI Championship this weekend. The Championship series will be hosted by UCAP and will begin with game one on Friday May 8th at 4pm, game two will be Saturday the 9th at 1pm and if there needs to be a game three it will be at 1pm on Sunday the 10th. UCAP will be the number one seed and host while CCRI is the number two seed.

The Knights will be led offensively by Lou Tarantino (Trumbull, CT) who is sporting a .421 batting average with a team-leading 51 hits including a team-leading seven home runs, nine doubles, 44 RBI and 41 runs scored and Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) batting .394 with 43 hits including two home runs, 11 doubles, 38 RBI and 26 runs scored. The Knights will also look to get production from Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) batting .361 with 35 hits including three home runs, six doubles, 29 RBI and 27 runs scored and Joe Correia (Burrillville, RI) batting .342 with 27 hits, including two triples, seven doubles, 15 RBI and 23 runs scored. The Knights hope their No. 41 ranked (NJCAA DII) .323 team batting average will help them score enough runs against a very potent UCAP line-up.

On the mound for the Knights the probable pitchers will most likely be one of their top three starting pitchers. That group includes: Dave Krasnowiecki (Cranston, RI) who has a 7-1 record with a 1.97 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 45and two thirds innings pitched; AJ Rataic (East Hartford, CT) who has a 6-1 record with a 4.78 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 52 and two thirds innings pitched; and Jim Dimon (Seymour, CT) who has a 4-3 record with a 2.18 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 45 and a third innings pitched. The Knights pitchers will have their work cut out for them having to tame the No. 9 ranked (NJCAA DII) UCAP line-up that sports a hefty .365 batting average.

The winner of the Region XXI Championship will host the East District Championship versus the Region XV winner and the Region III winner May 16th and 17th.

Knights Quell Quinsigamond 13-3 to end regular season 28-9!

The CCRI Knights baseball team defeated the Chiefs of Quinsigamond Community College from Worcester, MA 13-3 in their final regular season game. With the victory the Knights finish the regular season with a 28-9 overall record and 12-5 in Region XXI play.

On the mound for the Knights Ben Hanson (Fiskeville, RI) was in full control over five scoreless innings allowing just four hits, a walk to improve his record to 5-0 on the season. Hanson was relived by Colby Andrade (Seekonk, MA) who did not have his best stuff lasting just a third of an inning allowing three earned runs on three hits with a strikeout. Billy Laurie finished out the game throwing a scoreless two thirds of an inning allowing one hit and striking out one batter.

At the plate for the Knights Lou Tarantino (Trumbull, CT) was on fire going 3-3 with two home runs, a double, three runs scored, four RBI and two walks. Also having a big game at the plate was Ralphy Colon (Bridgeport, CT) went 1-2 with a home run four RBI and a run scored, Joe Correia (Burrillville, RI) went 2-3 with three runs scored, Joe Comella (Johnston, RI) was 2-4 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBI, and Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) was 2-4.

The Knights will now focus all their attention on the Region XXI Championship at UConn-Avery Point this weekend, times still to be determined.

Lady Knights streak and championship dreams to come to an end versus Mercyhurst

The CCRI Lady Knights softball team lost to the Saints of Mercyhurst North East from North East, PA in the District I Championship series 13-6 and 10-2. With the two losses the Lady Knights snap their 14-game win streak and end the season 14-4. The Saints of Mercyhurst North East (29-12) will advance to the NJCAA Division II National Championship in Bloomington, IL May 14th-17th.

Game 1
CCRI-6 Mercyhurst NE-13
On the mound for the Lady Knights Co-Captain Courtney St. Germain (Lincoln, RI) did her best to battle the extremely potent Saints line-up but their bats were just too much to overcome. St. Germain threw seven inning allowing 13 runs, nine earned with four walks while striking out two. St. Germain pitched well, though her line does not show it. It was just a matter of the Saints being in their zone and there was nothing Courtney could do though she battled as best she could.

At the plate for the Lady Knights Nicole Kufel (Riverdell, NJ) led the way going 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored, followed by Shanon Duffy (Taunton, MA) who went 2-3 with a double, a single, and two runs scored, and Daina Lamb (Cranston, RI) was 2-4 with an RBI. Also helping the Lady Knights’ attack was Co-Captain Julie Paradis (Lincoln, RI) who added a hit and RBI and a run scored, Stephanie Morse (Warwick, RI) added a hit and RBI, and Kaela-Rose Gentile (Glocester, RI) added a hit with a run scored.

Game 2
CCRI-2 Mercyhurst NE-10
On the mound for the Lady Knights Co-Captain Marian Long (Warwick, RI) did her best to slow down the bats of the Saints but it was not to be. Long threw six innings allowing 10 runs, eight earned on 15 hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. This was a very good outing again despite the high run total Long was still able to register eight strikeouts.

At the plate for the Knights Kaela-Rose Gentile (Glocester, RI) led the way with her first career home run followed by Shanon Duffy (Taunton, MA) who added an RBI double which accounted for all the Lady Knights’ runs. Also contributing was Stephanie Morse (Warwick, RI) who went 2-3 with two singles and Nicole Kufel (Riverdell, NJ) also went 2-3 with two singles.

The Lady Knight had an excellent season going undefeated for the second year in a row as a matter of fact the 2009 graduating class went a perfect 25-0 in Region XXI play, in addition, they outscored their Region xxi opponents 234-11. The 2009 graduating class is led by two-year Co-Captain Julie Paradis (Lincoln, RI) along with the CCRI career shutout leader (9) Courtney St. Germain (Lincoln, RI). Also playing in their final game as a Lady Knight was Caitlin Montella (Warwick, RI) who batted .385 this year, Daina Lamb (Cranston, RI) who batted .395 this year and Alyssa Gering (West Warwick, RI) who pitched a little and batted .222. Congratulations to all the Lady Knights and continued success as you continue you collegiate careers!

In addition, Head Coach Bev Wiley coached her last game on Saturday and will leave the coaching ranks to become the full-time Compliance Officer at CCRI. Wiley leaves the CCRI softball program as the all-time wins leader as a head coach with an impeccable 108-81 record surpassing the former all-time wins leader Dick Tellier who stands at 104-127. Congratulations coach Wiley on a spectacular career!

CCRI has a great showing in the Northeast District Championship

The CCRI track team traveled south to Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. The CCRI men’s team finished in 11th place out of 15 teams and the Lady Knights did not have enough competitors to compete in the team competition.

Despite the team results the Knights had some very good individual results including Michael Fernandes (Providence, RI) placing third in the javelin with a season-best throw of 46.50 meters. Fernandes came back and ran in the 100 meter dash in a personal-best time of 11.68 seconds which was good for 19th place. In his last event of the weekend Fernandes ran in the 200 meter dash finishing in 20th place with a time of 24.33 seconds.

With just one chance left to qualify for Nationals in the javelin Knight Joe Frederickson (Scituate, MA) knew what he had to do to get to Nationals this season. Frederickson accomplished his goal with a NJCAA Qualifying throw of 42.37 meters this throw was good enough for 5th place in the Northeast District Championship.

For the Knights runners Everett LaMountain (Smithfield, MA) placed third in the 1500 meter run in a time of 4 minutes 15.74 seconds. LaMountain returned in the 800m race placing 5th in a time of 2:05.28. Cory Dozier (Blackstone, MA) ran in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.05 seconds which was good enough for 23rd place. He also placed 9th in the triple jump with a season-best jump of 12.06 meters.

The one Lady Knight that ran was Kayleigh Smith (Cumberland, RI) who placed 13th in the 200m dash in a time of 31.21 and placed 10th in 400m dash in a time of 1:10.66.

Next week at the NJCAA Division III Nationals will be held at Alfred State College in Alfred, NY. The Knights that will be participating will be: Everett LaMountain in the 5,000m, 1,500m and 800m races; Michael Fernandes will throw the Javelin and run the 100m dash while; Joe Fredrickson will throw the Javelin. The only Lady Knight that will be at nationals will be Kayleigh Smith who will run the 400m and 800m races.

Knights drop two to UConn-Avery Point to fall to 27-9 on the season

The CCRI Knights baseball team lost both ends of a doubleheader to UConn-Avery Point (UCAP) 4-1 and 9-4. With the losses the Knights’ record falls to 27-9 on the season and 11-5 in Region XXI play.

Game 1
CCRI-1 UCAP-4
On the mound for the Knights Dave Krasnowiecki (Cranston, RI) was the hard-luck loser throwing five strong innings allowing three earned runs on six hits with three walks while striking out eight Pointer’s batters. With the loss his record falls to 7-1 on the season. Krasnowiecki was relieved by Matt Thadeio (West Greenwich, RI) who threw on and a third innings allowing one run on one hit striking out one. Very solid pitching performance for the Knights unfortunately they got minimal run support to back their efforts.

At the plate for the Knights Dan Lovejoy (Cranston, RI) scored the only Knights’ run blasting his first career home run! However, that was all the Knights could muster. Also contributing were Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) who was 1-3, Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) was 1-3 with a double and Anthony Vinci (Trumbull, CT) was 1-2. With the exception of Lovejoy’s homer there was just not enough offense to put away the very tough UCAP team.

Game 2
CCRI-4 UCAP-9
On the Mound for the Knights AJ Rataic (East Hartford, CT) got the loss throwing five innings allowing six earned runs on 10 hits, walking one and striking out two to fall to 6-1 on the season. He was relieved by Colin McMaster (Elma, WA) who lasted just one inning allowing three earned runs on four hits. McMaster was relieved by Billy Laurie (Warwick, RI) who threw one scoreless frame.

At the plate for the Knights Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) went 2-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored and Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) was 1-2 with a double and two RBI. In the second game the Knights had decent offense but UCAP just had more.

The Knights will have a week to prepare for the Region XXI Championship which will be hosted by UCAP this coming weekend. The exact schedule will be out later in the week.

Baseball - Dimon throws no-hitter as Knights mash their way past Massasoit CC 10-0!

The CCRI Knights baseball team defeated Region XXI foe Warriors of Massasoit CC of Brockton, MA 10-0 in five innings. With the victory the Knights improve their record to 27-7 on the season and 11-3 in Region XXI play.

On the mound for the Knights Jim Dimon (Seymour, CT) threw his first collegiate no-hitter shutting down the Warriors over five innings walking two and striking out three to improve his record to 4-3 on the season. Dimon got plenty of run support but didn’t really need it because he was unhittable over his five innings of work.

At the plate for the Knights Corey McDonald (Hudson, MA) led the way going 2-2 with three runs scored. Also having a big game at the plate for the Knights was Dean Beshansky (Cumberland, RI) who was 1-2 with four RBI and Co-Captain Kyle Borden (Lincoln, RI) went 1-2 with a double. And RBI and a run scored.

The Knights now look forward to hosting Region XXI baseball rivals UConn-Avery Point in a doubleheader on Saturday May 2nd starting at noon at Fell Field located on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.

May 2009

05.19.09

05.18.099

05.13.09

05.12.09

05.11.09

05.09.09

05.06.09

05.04.09

05.01.09