Baseball Earns Fifth Straight Win with Doubleheader Sweep of Yeshiva

BELLEROSE, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team used big run-scoring innings in each game as they swept a doubleheader against Yeshiva, winning both games 17-1, Sunday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

The Bears (20-15) have now won five straight games, and eight of their last nine to move to their best record on the season. 

The team had 14 players with at least a hit and a run batted in, including seven of them plating three runs batted in. Sophomore Anthony DeFillippo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) led the team with four hits over the doubleheader along with four runs scored and three RBI. Senior outfielder Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) extended his Bears' all-time hitting streak to 20 games, collecting threes hits and two runs scored while driving in two runs.

Sophomore Connor Pasetti (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) scored four runs with three RBI and three hits, while Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) added four runs and three hits in the victories. Chris Cutrone (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) and Bobby Perretti (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) each collected three runs batted in and three runs scored.

Junior starter Anthony Inserillo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) grabbed his first victory on the season, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out nine batters over six innings in game one. Freshman Thomas Pallatto (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) secured his first career win in game two, giving up one run and striking out three while Sean O'Melia (Woodside, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) tossed three scoreless frames to earn the save.

Chaim Rosenberg belted a solo home run and Joseph Miller also drove in a run for the Maccabees (2-20) in a losing effort.

In game one, the Bears raced out with three runs in the bottom of the first on a Cutrone RBI single and Pasetti's two-run double. They added four more in the third, which included run-scoring singles from DeFillippo, Brandon Salem (Franklin Square, N.Y./Valley Stream North), and Michael Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell). The fifth inning saw St. Joseph's break the game open, sending 15 batters to the plate and plating 10 runs.

Game two began the same as the first with the Bears tallying three runs in the first, including a D. Camerada two-run single. After Yeshiva responded with a run in the top of the second, the Bears used a nine-run frame to put the game out of reach. Perretti and Francis Rapp (Baldwin, N.Y./Oceanside) each had two-run hits in the inning, leading seven different players with run-scoring hits in the second.

The Bears close out their regular season before they head to Virginia for the USCAA National Championships with another matchup with Yeshiva Thursday night at Votee Park in Teaneck, N.J. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.