Watters Fires Complete Game, Palermo Adds Four Hits as Baseball Sweeps Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team (13-17-1) has now won three of their last four contests after sweeping the College of Staten Island (13-19) in a non-conference doubleheader at the CSI Baseball Complex on Friday.

Senior Anthony Palermo (Patchogue, N.Y./Sachem North) was 4-for-6 with three RBI, three runs, and two doubles while junior Andrew Watters (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) gave up zero earned runs going the distance in game one as the Bears swept the season series 3-0.

Game 1: St. Joseph's 6, Staten Island 1

Adam Schwartz (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) got on by error, was followed by a Palermo walk, and scored on a bad throw from the shortstop while Palermo was driven home on a single to short from Michael Ryan (Franklin Square, N.Y./Holy Trinity) for an immediate 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

The Dolphins cut the deficit in half on an SJC error in the bottom of the second, but the Bears tacked on an insurance run in the top of the third as Palermo plated Schwartz, who walked, with a base knock to center. Schwartz then got into the RBI column himself with a run-scoring single in the fifth to extend the visitor's lead to 4-1 after five.

Watters held Staten Island to just two hits and no runs over the final five innings of the game and the Bears used an RBI double from Schwartz and another Palermo scoring play on a single to left field to add a pair of tallies in the top of the seventh to secure a game on victory.

Game 2: St. Joseph's 6, Staten Island 2

Palermo ripped an RBI double to left in the opening frame of the second outing and later scored on a Dolphin error as SJC led 2-0 after the top of the first in both games on the day. A wild pitch gave CSI a run in the bottom half and they tied the game at two in the third on a bases-loaded single but stranded three runners on base.

Neither side found any offense in the fourth or fifth, but St. Joseph's broke the game open with three runs in the top of the sixth with three runs on four hits, highlighted by a two-run double to left center from Dominick Caputo (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai).

Schwartz scored on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh for a four-run advantage and junior William DeLuca (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) pitched a complete game victory giving up just two runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts improving his record to 3-1 on the season.

For the Bears

• Palermo (two RBI, two 2B, R, SB), Schwartz (2-for-3, three R, two RBI, SB), and rookie Chris Zinser (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) all had two hits in the first contest.
• Watters struck out four while walking seven and giving up one run (unearned) in his fifth victory of the season (5-3).
• DeLuca was 1-for-3 scoring a run with an RBI at the plate in his game two triumph on the mound.

Next Up for the Bears
A single non-league outing at Lehman College on Tuesday (Apr. 23) in the Bronx at 5 p.m.