West Nyacker Swings for the Fences; Jentzen Honored

Scarlet Knights’ Sultan of Swat

Senior Pat Kivlehan of West Nyack, a hard hitter on the football field, has been wielding a powerful bat for the Rutgers University baseball team.

The Scarlet Knights’ stellar third baseman crushed his 13th home run of the season in a 5-4 loss to Iona College at Bainton Filed in Piscataway, NJ.

The homer not only gave Kivlehan the Big East leadership, but tied him with Jeff Frazier (2002, 2004) for the fourth-most long balls in a single season in program history.

The Gaels (19-32) scored single runs in the second and third innings to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but Rutgers (28-23) got on the board in the fourth inning on Kivlehan’s blast over the wall in deep left-center.

The Scarlet Knights took their first lead in the fifth inning, but the Gaels strung together three runs on five hits to take a 5-4 lead in the ninth. Tom Kriss of Islip worked a perfect inning to earn his sixth save of the season, preserving the win for Conan Leon of Brooklyn, who also worked one perfect inning.

Senior infielder Eric Capowski of Yonkers, an alum of Stepinac HS, continues to hit well for the Gaels, with his .330 average in 36 games second-best on the team.

Junior pitcher Pete Ladis, an Iona Prep graduate, has appeared in six games without allowing an earned run.

Iona College opens a three-game series against St. Peter’s in Jersey City, NJ, today with a noon doubleheader, and the teams meet again at noon on Saturday.

The Scarlet Knights meet Villanova today at 1 p.m. at Bainton Field, with the teams meeting again at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a final preparation for the Big East Championships that begin May 23 in Clearwater, FL.

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Jentzen a pearl of a player

Following a sophomore season in which she led the Dominican College women’s lacrosse team in scoring with 39 goals, KC Jentzen of Pearl River has been named to the all-Central Atlantic Athletic Conference (CACC) first team.

Jentzen, a midfielder, ranked ninth in the CACC in goals and 16th in assists in 12 games this season

The Lady Chargers’ Allison Smithwick, a freshman attack from Commack who recorded a ninth-best 54 points, was honored as the CACC rookie of the year.

Two other Lady Chargers earned all-CACC accolades, while one player received Honorable Mention honors.

Michelle Fiorvanti, a junior defender also from Commack, makes her second all-CACC appearance in her career.  She was named to the second team in 2010.  In 14 games this season, she scored one goal and two assists, and was a key member on defense.

Olivia Antonopoulos, a sophomore defender from Baldwin, recorded four goals and three assists for seven points in 15 games in making her first all-CACC appearance.

Aubree Williams, a senior midfielder from Great Meadows, NJ, receives Honorable Mention honors for the second time in her career.  She finished third on the team with 28 goals and 37 points.  She finishes her career with 134 goals.

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Setters 10th at Northeast-10 Championships

Led by freshman Trevon Tann of the Bronx and Anthony Casario of Thornwood, the Pace University men’s track and field team finished 10th at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships hosted by Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

Tann, a Fordham Prep alum, set a school record in the high jump with a leap of 1.85 meters, and followed that performance with a career-best 6.00m in the long jump. 

Casario, who was graduated from Westlake HS, had a season-best time of 11.77 in the 100-meter dash. 

Patrick Schreiner of Morris Plains threw the discus 47 meters, good for a bronze medal, while Will Woodard of Walden just missed the final in the shot put, placing 10th with a career-best toss of 12.69 meters.

On the women’s side, Maria Montefusco of Levittown established a school standard in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:05.04.

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Mortarboard musings

• Lucas Lin of White Plains, a sophomore fencer at Harvard University, placed eighth in foil at the NCAA National Championships in Columbus, OH. “He had a severe injury to his fencing hand, and overcame a lot this season,” lauded Coach Peter Brand in a website interview. “He made the podium, finished eighth, and made all-American. He overachieved.” The Crimson mentor also said he is hopeful of the freshmen class stepping up next season, including Hikari Senju of Chappaqua, who competes in epee.

• Senior team captain Kevin Gordon of Rye, a defenseman, and the Colgate University men’s lacrosse team opens NCAA Tournament play on Sunday against No. 3 Duke at PPL Park in Chester, PA. Game time is 2:30 p.m. General admission tickets for the game are priced at $22 and can be purchased by calling Comcast Tix at 1-800-298-4200 or at the gate. If fans purchase tickets over the phone, to sit close to the Colgate Section please ask to be seated near Section 105.

• The Manhattanville College baseball team finished its season with a 16-22 record following a 5-4 loss to Misericordia University of Dallas, PA, in an elimination game at the Freedom Conference Championship in Quakertown, PA. Dan Fiorito of Yonkers capped his collegiate career with a spectacular season for the Purchase-based Panthers. The Fordham Prep grad easily led the team in homers with 12, and finished second in RBI (36) and batting average (.411). Junior John Bucci of Port Chester hit a fourth-best .364, with 18 RBI while sophomore Elias Tsouristakis of New Rochelle batted .300 on the nose and knocked in 11 runs.

• The Fordham University softball team closed its season with a 4-1, 14-inning marathon loss to George Washington at the Atlantic 10 Championship. Fordham ended its season with an overall mark of 32-26 and a 14-6 mark in A-10 play. Maybe it's a Friday thing, but exactly one week after playing the longest game in school history, the Rams were involved in another marathon contest, this one with George Washington at the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championship. And similarly to the UMass game last week, the Rams came out on the short end, falling 4-1 to the Colonials.

• Freshman Victoria Hernandez of White Plains batted .222 in nine games for the Pace University softball team, which dropped a season-ending doubleheader to Southern New Hampshire to finish at 28-20.

• Joe Rock of Carmel went 3 for 7 with two RBI as the Manhattan College baseball team swept Siena, 11-7, 6-0 at Gaelic Park in Riverdale. Mike Giordano of Bedford started the second-game, allowing two hits in four innings as the Jaspers raised their record to 28-24. Mike Scarinci of Nanuet pitched two scoreless innings to help Giordano pick up his second win of the season. Siena, which fell to 18-36, and Manhattan complete a three-game series today in a game set for 12 p.m.

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The 'College Sports Notebook' is published each Friday. Please send items of interest—including local athletes competing at out-of-town colleges—to marcmaturo@aol.com.