The College of Staten Island took on John Jay College in a single 9 inning game for the Borough Cup today in Staten Island, NY. The Dolphins completed the weekend trifecta against John Jay today with a, 14-3, win. The Dolphins improved to, 17-9, overall while the Bloodhounds fall to, 1-21, overall.
Jeff Manzi got the start on the mound for the Dolphins and things weren’t going the way he had hoped early on. Manzi allowed two singles and walked in a run with bases loaded to give the Bloodhounds their first run of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Manzi threw a wild pitch to bring in yet another run for John Jay to give them a, 2-0, lead over the Dolphins.
Elijah Rodriguez has started to prove that he belongs in the No. 1 spot as he has settled into his role and started connecting with the ball towards the end of the season. Rodriguez helped Manzi and the Dolphins’ cause with his third home run of the year over the left field wall.
The Dolphins rallied in the second inning after shutting out John Jay and scored three runs to get a, 4-2, lead over the Bloodhounds.
Manzi found himself in a bind in the sixth inning when the Bloodhounds loaded the bases with no outs which was caused by two errors. Manzi didn’t let that rattle him, he zoned in and struck out the next two batters which was followed by the third out to Joe Palmeri for the unassisted out at second base. Despite having two errors and no outs with bases loaded the Dolphins only allowed one run to keep their lead alive.
The Dolphins were down to their last out in the bottom of the sixth with a man on second and third. Rodriguez was on fire from the plate all game so the Bloodhounds intentionally walked Rodriguez to load the bases only to allow a bases clearing double by Nick Delprete which increased the Dolphins lead to 7-3. Delprete would not be stranded as Frank Smith would drive one down the left field line for an RBI double.
The Dolphins would not take their foot off of the pedal as they scored six more runs in the bottom of the eighth highlighted by Francis Munoz’s first home run of the season to seal the win.
Rodriguez had one of his best outings of the season going 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs, 2 runs, 3 doubles and a solo homerun in the first inning.
Manzi improves to, 4-0, on the season as he pitched six innings and allowed five hits with seven strikeouts.