Bears Sweep John Jay, Snap Seven Game Skid

BROOKLYN, NY – The Bears' bats came alive on Saturday afternoon producing 23 runs taking both ends of a doubleheader, 8-1 and 15-7, from John Jay College at the American Legion Field. It was a true team effort with all ten Bears' batters recording an RBI, and nine driving in two runs each.

Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) had another solid day at the plate collecting four hits, three runs and a stolen base. His 3-for-4 effort with two RBI in game two was his team-leading ninth multi-hit game and seventh multi-RBI game.

Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peters) knocked three hits and scored twice. Danny Contant (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian), appearing for the second time this season as designated hitter, rapped two hits with a double and scored twice.

Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) and Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) rounded out the Bears with multiple hits on the afternoon with two hits and three runs each.  Joseph Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) and Danny Zaretsky (Brooklyn, NY/Lincoln) also added three runs apiece.

Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) scattered seven hits and struck out six going the distance in game one to improve to 3-1. Mykelle Cortez (Brooklyn, NY/Cobble Hill) notched his first victory of the season in the nightcap, also going the distance and allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits, striking out two.

St. Joseph's (5-16) returns to the diamond tomorrow, April 17 hosting Purchase College for a twinbill at MCU Park starting at noon.

Game 1 – St. Joseph's 8, John Jay 1

Pagano worked into a early bases loaded jam with no outs in the opening frame, but got out of the inning with minimal damage, giving up one run, the only run he'd surrender all day.

St. Joseph's leveled the game in the third inning on a Cundari grounder that scored Joseph Swierczewski (Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) who led off the frame getting hit by a pitch.

The Bears went ahead for good in the following inning taking advantage of a leadoff walk by Joe Mendez who scored on a Bloodhound error in the outfield that allowed Jon Mendez to reach third base and score on a Zaretsky sacrifice.

John Jay threatened with runners on second and third in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, but Pagano held John Jay to 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners for the game.

A Swierczewski two-run triple in the sixth opened a three run frame that would provide Pagano enough cushion to seal the victory for the Bears.

Game 2 – St. Joseph's 15, John Jay 7 (6 inn, rain)

Both teams plated solo runs in the opening frame. John Jay pulled ahead with a two-run third inning that saw the Bears make two crucial fielding miscues, but Cortez managed to limit the damage working out of a bases loaded jam, to keep the game 3-1.

St. Joseph's cut the deficit in half, scratching out a run in the next half inning on a Zaretsky walk, and back-to-back singles by Contant and Thomas Karasinski (Staten Island, NY/New Dorp), all with two-outs.

The Bears broke the game open in the fifth sending 11 batters to the dish to tally seven runs, their highest run total in an inning this season, the beneficiary of three Bearhound errors in the inning. Contant inflicted the most damage with a two-RBI double to left field, later scoring on a Chris Pacifico (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund's) single to center.

St. Joseph's tacked on six more runs in the sixth inning off the John Jay relief, taking a commanding 15-3 lead. John Jay managed four runs in the bottom half of the frame, but the game was called after six innings due to rain.