CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, April 29, 2004
Region III baseball tournament to be held at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium May 7-9
The Hudson Valley Community College baseball team is ranked third, and the Lady Vikings' softball team is ranked fourth in the latest NJCAA Division III polls.
Both teams will complete regular season play this Sunday, May 2 before entering next week's Region III tournaments.
The baseball team is 33-8 on the year and has won 18 of its last 19 games. With their next win, the Vikings will set a team record for wins in a season. Hudson Valley was 33-10 in 2001.
Hudson Valley will host the NJCAA Region III Division III baseball tournament on Friday-Sunday, May 7-9. It will be a four-team double-elimination tournament. The four competing teams will be the winners of four sub-regional games played at home sites on Tuesday, May 4.
The Hudson Valley pitching staff has been the strength of the team all season. The Vikings have pitched shutouts in eight of its last 18 games and have a combined 3.84 earned run average, including a 2.37 ERA since returning from their spring break trip.
Freshman William Lewis (Middletown/Middletown High School) is 6-2 with a 3.05 ERA. Freshman Nate Jones (Horseheads/Horseheads High School) has not allowed a run in 19 consecutive innings. He is 5-0 with a 3.82 ERA and has struck out 43 batters in 30.2 innings of work.
After suffering a severe eye injury in the 10th game of last season, sophomore Steve Sayre (East Greenbush/Columbia High School) leads the Hudson Valley offensive attack this year. He is batting .444 (55-for-124) with 17 doubles, two home runs and 43 RBI. Sophomore Ryan-Gijon Owen (Puebla, Mexico/Bowie, TX High School), the college's career leader in hits (105) and RBI (95), is hitting .372 (45-for-121) with five home runs and 47 RBI.
Hudson Valley's softball team is 22-6-1 and will complete its season with a doubleheader against Monroe Community College at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 2 in Troy.
Sophomore Stephanie Goodspeed (Lansingburgh/Lansingburgh High School) leads the Lady Vikings with a .487 (37-for-76) batting average and 30 RBI, and is 11-4 with a 1.69 ERA on the mound. Freshman Annemarie Nelson (East Greenbush/Columbia High School) is hitting .459 (39-for-85) with 17 extra-base hits.
Sophomore pitcher Samantha Zotto (Troy/Troy High School) is 11-0 with a 1.78 ERA on the mound this year. She has won 20 consecutive decisions dating back to last season.
