Baseball Cruises in Doubleheader Sweep of Yeshiva

BROOKLYN, N.J. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team plated 30 runs and rang out 24 hits over a pair of convincing wins over Yeshiva University, 21-2 and 9-3, on Friday morning at Calvert Vaux Park. Junior Adam Schwartz (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) led the pack with a sextuple of hits, RBI, and runs while freshman C.J. Bunicelli (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) struck out 10 over the complete-game victory in the opener.

The Basics

• Final Scores: St. Joseph's 21, Yeshiva 2; St. Joseph's 9, Yeshiva 3
• Records: St. Joseph's (5-24, 3-9 Skyline), Yeshiva (3-18, 0-14 Skyline)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. — Calvert Vaux Park

Game 1: St. Joseph's 21, Yeshiva 2 (7 inn)

• SJC posted runs in all seven innings for their highest offensive output of the season, ringing out 16 hits with nine different Bears recording a base knock and Adam Schwartz, Anthony Palermo (Patchogue, N.Y./Sachem North) and Kevin Reyes (Bronx, N.Y./AECI)  all turning in three-hit efforts in the lopsided victory.
• Michael Ryan (Franklin Square, N.Y./Holy Trinity) opened the scoring in the first with a bases loaded grounder and a passed ball that allowed Palermo to trot home put the Bears up 2-0 after one.
• Schwartz belted an opposite-field RBI single and Palermo followed with a two-run single and Reyes scored him with a double to highlight a four-run second. Schwartz and Palermo would finish with four RBI each and Reyes drove in a pair as the trio combined to produce 10 runs.
• The Maccabees getting two runs back in the home half of the inning to cut the Bears lead to 6-2, but Bears starter C.J. Bunicelli would throw up zeroes from there, going the distance for his second straight victory, striking out 10—one shy of matching the Bears single-game record.
• There was no shortage of offense with the Bears scoring two in the third, three in the fourth, and 10 over the final three frames pull away. Joseph Langan (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) knocked two hits and drove in two runs over the stretch, the only other Bear to record a multi-hit, multi-RBI effort.

Game 2: St. Joseph's 9, Yeshiva 3

• The Bears plated a solo run in the first on a Palermo grounder that scored Justus Acosta (Little Neck, N.Y./Holy Cross), who started off the game with a single.
• SJC broke the game open with a six-run second on just two hits, with the Macs issuing five walks in the frame. Acosta drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk and Schwartz continued to produce at the plate with a two-RBI single.
• Yeshiva ended a stretch of nine scoring innings for the Bears and held them scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings, cutting into the deficit with a two-run fourth, loading the bases and receiving back-to-back RBI singles from Aryeh Salovey and David Hanelin.
• The Bears would get the pair back in the sixth on a double steal and a Michael Gonzalez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood H.S.) double to pad the lead back to seven, 9-2, before the Macs plated a single unearned run in the home half.

For the Bears

• Adam Schwartz finished the day batting 6-for-11 with six RBI, scoring as many times.
• Anthony Palermo, Justus Acosta, and William DeLuca each batted 3-for-6 over the twinbill. Palermo drove in five runs, while Acosta scored five times and drew five walks and stole three bases. DeLuca picked up a RBI and scored a pair.
• Kevin Reyes also knocked three hits across a 3-for-7 day, with two RBI, a run and a double.
• Matthew Rienzi (Maspeth, N.Y./Xavier) picked up the victory in relief in game two, striking out three over two innings of work, surrendering just an unearned run and two hits. As a sub in the opener, he went 1-for-1 with two runs scored and a walk.

Next Up for the Bears

• St. Joseph's heads to Newburgh to face Mount Saint Mary in a Skyline twinbill on Saturday (Apr. 21) starting at noon. Live stats available at SJCBears.com.