CONTACT: Jeff Foley (518) 629-8085 or (518) 210-4161
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Monday, May 6, 2002
http://www.hvcc.edu
Last year, Hudson Valley Community College's baseball team won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCCA) Division III Region III postseason title and competed in the NJCAA World Series, finishing as one of the top eight Division III junior colleges in the nation. Now, the Vikings (30-13-1 overall, 20-2 Region III) are looking to capture the 2002 Region III crown and return to the World Series.
Hudson Valley earned the No. 2 seed in the Region III tournament, which kicks off at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, when the Vikings host seventh-seeded Jamestown Community College (14-11 overall). The game will be played at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy.
The seedings for the Region III tourney are as follows:
1. Schenectady County Community College
2. Hudson Valley Community College
3. Erie County Community College
4. Columbia Green Community College
5. Jefferson Community College
6. Finger Lakes Community College
7. Jamestown Community College
8. Genesee Community College
The victor of the Hudson Valley-Jamestown contest advances to the next round of the playoffs, which begins Friday at Murnane Field in Utica, N.Y., where the tournament becomes a double-elimination event. The winner of the Region III tourney earns a spot in the eight-team World Series.
Offensively, Jason Martin (Pine Bush H.S.) leads the Vikings with a .414 batting average. The 6-foot-5 catcher also tops Hudson Valley in doubles (10), home runs (eight) and runs batted in (39). Matt Nobles (Bishop Maginn H.S.) is hitting .310 with five home runs, and Silvestre Castro (Norman Thomas H.S.), a Third Team All-American last season, is hitting .341 with 24 RBI. He has scored a team-high 31 runs.
Aaron Marchese (Dennis-Yarmouth H.S., MA) is 6-0 on the mound with one save. The right-hander sports a 2.50 earned run average with a team-high 51 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched. Leftie Bobby Krogh (Troy H.S.) and right-hander Shawn Miller (Troy H.S.) each have five wins. Krogh has a 3.00 ERA with 41 strikeouts and Miller has a 3.45 ERA with 39 strikeouts.