UNIONDALE, N.Y. – It came down to the Winner Takes All game as the #2 seed Queens College baseball team took on #1 seed and East Coast Conference Regular Season Champions Molloy College Lions at Mitchel Field to decide the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The pivotal game seven was a classic as it lasted close to five and half hours combined with a 45-minute weather delay, foggy weather conditions towards the latter stages of the game, a total of 22 runs, 26 hits, five errors, and 11 pitchers combined to decide the final outcome of the game.
But for every response head coach
Chris Reardon and his Knights made, the Lions somehow had an answer. Molloy used their 2021 season experience and downfall to their advantage as they answered back every time the Knights took a lead. In the end, it was that same experience that would come back to prove to be the breaking point as Molloy's senior Peter Theodorellis earned MVP honors for his game-winning performance with the bat and on the mound.
In a back and forth game which saw the most runs combined in a single championship game since 1993 when Adelphi defeated Saint Rose 15-8 to dethrone Saint Rose, fast forward to 29 years later, it is was the Knights that were unable to complete the dethroning as they fell short in a 12-10 final.
The Knights' offense tallied 12 hits led by Conference Player and Rookie of the Year freshman
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) (4-4 AB, 2B, 3B, RBI, 3R, 2BB) as the rookie could not be dislodged all game long, while freshman
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) (3-6 AB, 2B, 6RBI) tallied a career-high six RBIs in the loss.
While the most decorative player in program history senior
Louis Antos (West Islip, N.Y) (2-3 AB, 2-2B, 2RBI, 3R, 3BB) put up a fight keeping his team in the game all the way to his final at-bat.
Records fell as the freshman duo of Cicso and Filip set the benchmark for all rookies to come and break as the second baseman Cisco fell one RBI short of breaking the 24-year-old record of 50 RBIs in a single as he finished the season with 49 RBIs.
While Filip who was one blast away from clinching the title concludes his freshman campaign with 47 RBIs, the second most as a freshman behind teammate Cisco.
Head coach
Chris Reardon and his squad were voted not to be in the 2022 Postseason picture as they were selected to finish fifth. But they showed the votes were just numbers placed under the school logos as they finished second in the conference standings and advanced to their first final since the 1998 season.
The narrative of 1998 might still linger as it is the last time the Queens College baseball team earned a conference championship but the 2022 season will show the following:
- Most wins in a single season since 1998
- Second highest win percentage in program history (26-17 overall, .605%)
- Most Conference wins (15-6)
- Finals Appearance in 2022
- First time In program history a Knight was named Player and Rookie of the Year (Marc Cisco)
- The 2022 squad won two Conference Tournament games (defeated Mercy/STAC)
- Six All-Conference Selections (most In program history)
The Lions began the final game with an early 2-0 lead but it would stand until the bottom of the third inning as the heart of the order Cisco, Antos and Filip tallied three hits to take a 3-2 lead
The lead would be short-lived as the Lions quickly responded to tie the game 4-4 in the top of the fourth. But the Knights were not to be outdone as the duo of Antos and Filip put the Knights up 6-3 after four complete innings of play.
The fifth would see both teams match each other for four runs but it was the Queens College baseball team that was in front with a 10-7 advantage.
Down to their last 12 outs, it was the Lions who still had a card up their sleeve. They would outscore the Knights 5-0 in the final four innings of play including a run in the top of the ninth to extend their lead to 12-10.
Trailing 12-10, down to three outs the Knights saw the first two batters go down on punchouts. Cisco and Antos had other ideas as the Long Island City native used one last big burst of energy to lace a triple into center field to bring up the tying run to plate in Antos.
Antos was unable to swing to tie the match as the senior earned the final walk of his career as the Lions put the tying runs on first, and Cisco at third base. But in a battle between senior vs. freshman, it was the senior on the opposite end who prevailed as Filip struck out swinging to end the match and conclude the season for the Knights to the final score of 12-10.
With the loss, the Knights conclude the season with an overall record of 26-17.
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