FIGHTING TIGER BASEBALL BACK FROM ARIZONA TRIP

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s baseball program headed towards the land of cactus over spring break with an ambitious trip to Arizona to play eleven games against top-notch NJCAA Division I and II programs. Like most northeastern schools that head southwest early in the year the Fighting Tigers weren’t expecting wins as much as they were looking for a chance to play and find a team identity. Despite a 1-10 overall record on the trip the Fighting Tigers returned to upstate New York with some momentum headed into their Region III schedule.

Much of that had to do with Cobleskill’s surprising 8-3 upset victory over 2004 NJCAA Division I Semi-Finalist Indian Hills Community College in their last game. Freshman pitcher Matt Young, Delmar, NY, Bethlehem High School, hurled a complete game for Cobleskill striking out three and walking only one while going two-for-four at the plate with two RBI on the day. On the trip the talented rookie paced the Fighting Tigers offensively by batting .333 with five RBI and seven runs scored.

“We went to Arizona for the entire experience; I never had any illusions about winning a lot of games because we were really playing up in schedule by facing some of the top baseball talent in the country,” said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Shawn Noel. “Going into that final game versus Indian Hills; we told our guys that we wanted nothing less than a win to go home with and a win they delivered. It was like a night and day contrast between the team that showed up in the first game and the team that came out for the second game. Over all on the trip: we got some at-bats, fielded some ground balls, and gained experience that we would not have received if we stayed here in New York. We still have a lot of things to work on, but we also have a lot to be proud of and are excited about the season.”

The Fighting Tiger mentor also had so strong praise for Matt Young’s contribution to the victory over Indian Hills. “Young is a true gamer; he will do anything asked of him. His performance was gutsy considering we were all running on empty by that point in the trip.”

Cobleskill is slated to open the home portion of their schedule on Friday April 1st versus the Panthers of Holyoke Community College from Holyoke, MA beginning at 3:00 PM at the college’s baseball field. Admission is free to all students, faculty, staff and the general public.