BROOKLYN, N.Y. (May 12, 2023) – The CCNY Beavers took two games from Lehman on Friday to win the 2023 CUNYAC Baseball Championship at Maimonides Park. The Beavers won the first game by a 10-0 score and rallied back in the ninth inning of game two to win by a 20-8 margin. With the sweep, it’s the Beavers’ second title in program history and the first since 1994.
Coming off a 15-run performance in Tuesday’s first round win against John Jay, CCNY, the regular season champions for the first time in school history, generated 30 more runs across the two games to secure conference bragging rights for the first time in 29 years.
James Dean Johnstone was named the championship’s Most Valuable Player. Over the course of the tournament, the pitcher gave up one run over 12.0 innings of work with 12 strikeouts.
Game 1: CCNY 10, Lehman 0
CCNY’s bats continued to sizzle, scoring a run in all eight innings at bat.
Rich Cirigliano went 3-for-4 with one run scored and another run batted in.
John Creegan went 2-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored while
Michael Chasanov finished with two runs scored and one RBI.
Johnstone went the distance, tossing 8.0 scoreless innings with five strikeouts to pick up victory No. 7 on the season.
Game 2: CCNY 20, Lehman 8
Creegan had another strong outing at the plate, going 4-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Jonathan Rivera and
Ethan Angress produced three hits, two runs scored and two RBI apiece in the victory.
Trailing 6-4 in the seventh inning, the Lightning plated four runs to take their first lead of the contest, going up 8-6 thanks to a two-run single from Elias Fermin.
CCNY added a run in the eighth and exploded for 13 more runs in the top of the ninth, taking the lead for the good on a two-run single from Chasanov. The Beavers went on to score 11 more times to secure the victory.