March 20, 2008

Men's Baseball And Men's Volleyball Make SJC Sports History with Fine Debut Performances

The amazing ascent of the Brooklyn sports program continued this week as the Men's Baseball and Men's Volleyball teams competed for the first time in St. Joseph's College history. While both teams debuted with losses in the results column, the SJC student-athletes and coaches were clearly the winners in the effort department as they turned in respectable performances against their far more seasoned opponents.

The Bears took to the field for their season opening doubleheader against Lehman College on Sunday in the Bronx. Despite the misty, cool conditions, the St. Joe's dugout was stoked with enthusiasm in anticipation of the first pitch. "I was confident that we had the talent to compete with them," said Head Coach John Torres. "The guys were just so pumped up after months of preparation that it was hard to calm them down," added Torres, who assembled the solid 18 man roster in just a year's time. Freshman Steve Tanamal stepped to the plate to lead off the game and immediately jumped on the first offering and grounded out to second – the program was officially underway. The Bears remained hitless until the 5th inning, when rookie centerfielder Bobby Villante lined a crisp double to leftfield for the history making moment. "We all wanted to get into the history books," exclaimed Villante. "The last thing we wanted was to get no-hit – after the double, everyone was able to breath a sigh of relief." Although trailing entering the 6th frame by a score of 5-0, the Bears, spurred on by leadoff walks to Emil Kolenovik and Tanamal mounted a furious six-run rally to take the lead. Jon Matzelle, Juan Cruz and Villante all contributed key two out RBI hits as St. Joe's appeared ready to upset the shocked Lightning squad. Alas, Lehman came back to tie the game in their half of the sixth inning and eventually won the game by scoring the decisive run in the 7th to secure the hard fought 7-6 win.

Although the Bears eventually dropped the nightcap by a score of 10-0, the squad turned in a great effort in their debut. Added Junior Juan Cruz, the elder statesman of the club, "I guarantee that we will continue to work hard and get better as the season progresses - don't be surprised if we pull off a few upsets along the way !" Led by the watchful eye of Coach Torres, the future is indeed bright for the Bears Baseball program.

Turning from the field to the indoor arena, St. Joe's continued their history-making week on Monday as the Men's Volleyball team made the debut against Webb Institute. Featuring a squad entirely composed of first-time volleyball players, the Bears, despite their relative inexperience, battled admirably through three tough games before falling to Webb. Led by first-year coach Greg Cwiekala, the Bears were practicing hard in preparation of the first match. "We are definitely a work-in-progress," stated Cwiekala, "but I'm proud of the way these guys are willing to learn and leave everything they have on the court." While the Bears dropped 3 games by a count of 30-16, 30-19 and 30-12, they led on a number of occasions and even rallied to close the 2nd game gap to 19-16 before finally falling. Senior Vinny Giglio summed it up best, "We were all nervous in the beginning, but once we settled in, we gained more confidence." Added a determined Christian Jocelyn, "we had a lot of fun, but we don't enjoy losing – I promise that when we face them again, the result will be different !"

St. Joe's is back in action on Wednesday when they travel to York College to face their first CUNY conference opponent.