Daily Sports Digest: New Rochelle's TSC Clinches First Place

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The Top Spot: 
(The following is user generated copy) An outstanding pitching performance by Brenden Cuni lifted the Tigers Sports Club (TSC, travel baseball team out of New Rochelle) to a 8-0 win over Haverstraw PAL (HPAL) on Sunday at Fieldstone Secondary School.

The win clinched the regular season first place (10-2) for Tigers Sports Club in the New York Elite Baseball Travel 16u division.

The Tigers Sports Club's pitcher Brenden Cuni, tossed seven innings of shutout ball, allowed only two hits and struck out 12 hitters en route to the Tigers Sports Club win. 

The biggest inning for the TSC was the fourth. HPAL had no answer as the Tigers scored six runs on four big hits.

Philip (PJ) Pimble singled to right, Joey Lagani singled down third base line, Austin Disher smashed double to left, and Buzzy Irizarry singled to right combined for a six-run inning. 

The game was never in doubt after the first, as the Tigers Sports Club scored one run; John Valente doubled to left and then scored on a deep sacrifice fly to center by Jayson Gray.

Mark Shkrelja went a perfect 2-2 at the plate for TSC. He doubled in the second inning and singled in the fifth inning.

Today’s Schedule:

In softball, Mamaroneck heads to Ursuline at 4:30 p.m.

College Sports Notebook:

Red Dragons going to national tourney

 The SUNY Cortland baseball team rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat host Farmingdale State, 2-1, in the championship round of the NCAA New York Regional Tournament.The Red Dragons (39-7-1) went 4-0 in the double-elimination regional and earned a trip to the NCAA Division III World Series.Cortland, making its 11th World Series appearance, will face the winner of the Mid-Atlantic Regional on the opening day of the Series on Friday in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.Sophomore catcher Tim Panetta of Mount Kisco, a Fox Lane graduate, was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Andrew Pezzuto of Hastings, a junior outfielder who was named the tournament MVP. Freshman outfielder Donny Castaldo of Mount Kisco, another Fox Lane graduate, and senior pitcher Brendan Hourihan of Yorktown Heights, a team captain, also perform for the Red Dragons.Hourihan picked up his third save of the season after preserving a 4-2 win over Farmingdale that earned the Red Dragons their title shot in the regional tournament. 

Spartans honored

Matt Marotta of Suffern, a two-time East Coast Conference pitcher of the week, Frank Salerno of New City, who flirted with a .400 batting average, and standout rookie Stanley Susana of the Bronx represent St. Thomas Aquinas College on the NCWBA first-team all-East Region baseball team.

Scott Muscat of West Haverstraw earned coach of the year recognition and Mike Russo of Boca Raton, FL, was named to the second-team.

Salerno finished second in the ECC in batting average (.376) and RBI (33).  The junior also led the ECC in stolen bases (38) and was the Spartans’ leader with 54 runs.  Salerno was a first team all conference selection for the second year in a row and broke the Spartans record for stolen bases in a season. Salerno was named the ECC player of the week three times this season. 

Marotta led the conference in wins with eight after missing last season due to an injury. The senior right-hander broke the school record for wins and most strikeouts in a season (70). 

Mortarboard musings

• Tatuvydas Kieras of in New Rochelle added to his growing legend at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Levelland, TX. On his fifth throw of the meet, the Lithuanian freshman, who is known as 'TK,' threw the discus 182 feet to win the gold medal and capture first-team all-American status. Kieras is Monroe's first-ever national track and field champion.
• Tonight,  is hosting their annual Meet the Coaches spring event tonight at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wykagyl Country Club. For $30 per person admission gets you hors d’oeuvres, an open bar and the opportunity to meet the men’s and women’s basketball coaches. To RSVP contact Jay Judge at 914-633-2071 or jjudge@iona.edu.
• The NCAA East Preliminary will be held at the University of North Florida and the Iona Gales will be sending nine members of the school’s track program to the event.
• Dan Fiorito of Yonkers and Manhattanville was named to the D3Baseball.com all second team after he led the Valiant baseball team in most offensive categories. Fiorito hit .397 in his time at Manhattanville with 116 runs as he belted 21 homers and knocked in 108 RBI. The shortstop was named on of the top prospects in the country by Baseball America and went on to hit .411 with 12 home runs this season.
• Manhattanville senior tennis player Michael Capozzi was named CoSIDA Academic All-District Honor for the second straight year. The award is given every year to students who excel on the court and in the classroom.

Weekly Sports Poll:

This week the sports poll asks what you think of in major league baseball? New York fans may hate the leagues playing one another as both New York teams have lost two of three in their first interleague series of the year. The Subway Series will be played in a few weeks. 

The Daily Sports Digest is Patch’s way of increasing reader involvement in sports coverage. We would like to provide you with for you to add your best photos and/or videos to share. If you see anything in our high school scores, standings or schedule that requires updating, please e-mail Mark Rinaldi directly at HVDailySportsDigest@gmail.com or like us on Facebook and post updates on our wall. Marc Maturo covers college athletics across the nation. Please send updates of your local schools or players to marcmaturo@aol.com.