Palermo and Reyes Homer as Baseball Splits with Old Westbury

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. — After dropping four-straight Skyline contests, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team (10-8-1, 3-5 Skyline) downed SUNY College at Old Westbury (8-10-1, 5-3 Skyline) 8-3 in game one of a doubleheader at the Jackie Robinson Athletic Complex on Sunday.

A pair of home runs and a complete game from junior Andrew Watters (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) lifted the Bears to victory, but they fell 6-1 in game two to split the Skyline set.

How It Happened (Game 1): St. Joseph's 8, Old Westbury 3
SJC Starters: Reyes (LF), Palermo (3B), Ryan (C), DeLuca (1B), Trudden (DH), Langan (RF), Zinser (CF), McLaughlin (SS), Gonzalez (2B); Watters (P)

Both teams advanced runners into scoring position in the first but failed to capitalize for a scoreless opening frame.

The Bears opened the scoring in the second, however, as Joseph Langan (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) singled and Michael Gonzalez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) walked followed by back-to-back two-out home runs from Kevin Reyes (Bronx, N.Y./AECI) and Anthony Palermo (Patchogue, N.Y./Sachem North) for a 4-0 SJC lead after two.

Langan added a sac fly in the third and Michael Ryan (Franklin Square, N.Y./Holy Trinity) did the same in the fourth. Gonzalez singled home two more runs for the Bears in the top of inning five as they held an 8-1 edge halfway through the game.

Old Westbury plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth but the deficit was too large as the Bears snapped their losing streak on the road.

How It Happened (Game 2): Old Westbury 6, St. Joseph's 1
SJC Starters: Reyes (LF), Palermo (3B), Ryan (C), DeLuca (1B), Langan (RF), Lombardi (DH), Zinser (CF), McLaughlin (SS), Gonzalez (2B); Juliano (P)

Back-to-back walks were followed by a sac bunt and a single in the second giving Old Westbury a 2-0 lead in the nightcap. Peter Capel then singled through the right side with the bases loaded an inning later to double the hosts' lead (4-0).

The Panthers tacked on their fifth run of the contest in the fourth as SJC didn't get on the board until the sixth when Palermo walked and later scored on a passed ball after a single from Ryan.

Adam Heidenfelder dominated on the mound for OW firing a complete game shutout as the Bears only mustered two hits in game two with five strikeouts and their run was unearned.

For the Bears

• Reyes had a game-high three RBI in game one and Palermo went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI.
• Gonzalez and J.J. McLaughlin (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka) each had a pair of hits in the first contest while Langan scored twice and drove in a run.
• Watters threw 134 pitches over nine innings earning the win (4-1) and allowing three runs on 13 hits with a pair of strikeouts.
• Rookie Chris Zinser (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) recorded a hit in both games.

Next Up for the Bears
A return to Calvert Vaux Park for another Skyline twin-bill against the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday (Apr. 6) at noon with live stats available at SJCBears.com.