Tribs go in search of eighth district title

By PAUL GOTHAM

GROTON, CT. — If the Monroe Community College Tribunes earn a trip to the NJCAA Division II World Series, they will have to do it against opponents familiar with the challenge. The 2015 championship brings together three schools which have combined to take seven of the last eight East District Division II titles.

Monroe, winners of three straight titles in 2007, ’08 and ’09, will compete for the school’s eighth trip to the World Series against the UConn-Avery Point (UCAP) Pointers, (2010, ’11 and ’13 champions), and last year’s champs the Westchester Community College Vikings.

The Tribunes will also have to outlast a pair of teams with distinct strengths.

Bolstered by one of the nation’s best pitching staffs, UCAP (31-10/11-0) claimed its 11th New England Championship defeating Community College of Rhode Island. Westchester CC (43-4/21-2) boasts one of the nation’s top offenses.

Led by a quartet of sophomores, Avery Point ranks second in the nation in batting average against (.229), fifth in ERA (2.54) and 15th in strike outs (167). Doug Domnarski (8-1) leads the Pointers with 81 strike outs in 70.1 innings of work. The left-hander’s ERA of 1.41 ranks seventh in the country. He has walked just 18 batters.

Christian Gonnelli (5-4/3.26/38K/12BB/49.2IP), Andrew Hinckley (5-2/1.90/ 70K/13BB/47.1IP) and Bryant Morander (5-0/2.09/40k/10BB/38.2IP) round out the sophomore hurlers. Freshman John Russell leads UCAP with four saves in 14 appearances.

Hinckley paces the Avery Point offense with a batting average of .384 and 27 RBI. Kyle Hart‘s .583 slugging leads a UCAP offense which has scored 231 runs while the defense has allowed 116. The Huskies have won five straight and 10 of 11 coming into the weekend.

Long-time UCAP coach, Roger Bidwell, won his 1,000th game as Domnarski tossed a no-hitter in the opener of this year’s New England Tournament.

Westchester CC, fourth in this week’s national poll, leads the country in on-base percentage and ranks in the top ten for batting average (.356) and slugging (.502). Steven Figueroa (.460 BA/ .522 OBP/ .722 slugging) leads a Viking squad which has outscored opponents by a combined total 421-111. Mark Shkrelja paces Westchester CC with 10 home runs (tied for 29th in the country) and 67 RBI. Anthony Shkrelja is tied for fourth in the country with 42 base on balls. Sage Cheren is eighth with 40 walks. Anthony Shkrelja has 47.1 innings over 13 appearances and is fifth in DII with an ERA of 1.33.

Westchester has won 15 straight and defeated UCAP, 3-0 when the two teams met on March 16th in Vero Beach, Florida.

Sophomores Ellington Hopkins, Jimmy Latona and Hunter Merrill pace a Monroe squad which is eighth in the nation with an OBP of .437. The Tribunes 128 stolen bases rank 10th in country. Hopkins (.341 avg.) leads the Tribs with 21 thefts. Latona’s OBP of .560 is third in country. Merrill is hitting .358. David Vaccaro (.375 BA) leads MCC with 46 RBI. Tommy LaCongo leads MCC with eight home runs. Angel Diaz has four round trippers with 44 RBI.

While Monroe does not have an individual in the top 30 nationally for stolen bases, the Tribs 2.72 swipes per game ranks fifth in the country. MCC baserunners have been caught stealing on 33 occasions or less than 20 percent of their attempts.

Monroe (31-16/9-3) was ranked 20th in this week’s national poll.

Avery Point swept Monroe in 2013 to advance to the World Series. 

Current major leaguer Rajai Davis played at Avery Point. The Pittsburgh Pirates chose Davis in the 38th round of the 2001 MLB. John McDonald also played at UCAP before attending Providence. Both Davis and McDonald played in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Six UCAP alums have been taken in the MLB draft.

Former Tribune Pat Urckfitz is in eighth season of professional baseball. Urckfitz currently plays with the New Orleans Zephyrs – the Triple-A affiliate of the Florida Marlins. Urckfitz and current Tribune assistant coach Cory Brownsten teamed up on the 2008 MCC club which finished third in the nation.

Three former Tribunes Greg Keagle, Bill Laskey and Tim Redding have gone on to play in MLB. More than 25 former Tribunes have been selected in the MLB draft. Click here to see the entire list. That page does not include Brownsten, who went on to the University of Pittsburgh before being taken by the Atlanta Braves and head coach Dave Brust who attended Ball State University before spending three seasons in the Atlanta Braves system.

Brownsten, Brust and Urckfitz all logged time in the NYCBL.

Ryan Castle is one of five Westchester alums taken in the MLB draft.

Monroe also won District titles in 1976, ’78, ’80 and ’89.

Avery Point and Westchester open the East District tournament Saturday morning. A 9:30 a.m. first pitch is scheduled.

Monroe and Westchester follow with the second game slated for a 1 p.m. start.

The 2015 NJCAA DII World Series is scheduled for May 23-30 in Enid, Oklahoma.

Fans can follow @PickinSplinters for updates throughout the weekend.