PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.- The Setters fell to the Dolphins of Le Moyne College 7-4 in the First Round of the Northeast-10 Championship. Pace, ranked #4 in the most recent NCAA East Region poll, falls to 32-15 overall, while Le Moyne improved to 24-22 and advanced to the NE-10 Championship Final Four.
The Setters jumped on the board early in the game as Joe Solomeno (Holbrook , NY/Sachem East) (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) doubled to lead-off the second inning. Ian Wukitsch (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) singled to move Solomeno to third and Bobby Horn (Stamford, CT/Westhill) (Stamford, CT/Westhill) came through with a key single to put the Setters up 1-0.
Pace came calling again in the third as Brandon Martineson (Prospect, KY/Warwick (NY)) (Prospect, KY/Warwick) reached on a fielder's choice, while James Pjura (Shelton, CT/Shelton) (Shelton, CT/Shelton) reached on an infield single. Solomeno drove in both runners with a double to right-center to put the Setters up 3-0. The Dolphins rallied with a pair of runs in the fifth to slice the score down to 3-2. Solomeno put the Setters back up by two runs as he blasted a solo homerun in the sixth inning. The Dolphins rallied in the final innings as they scored three in the seventh and added two more in the eighth to take a 7-4 lead. Le Moyne starter Ryan Davis allowed one Pace runner on base in the final three innings as he turned in a complete game effort, allowing eight hits and struck out seven.
For Pace, Solomeno went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI's in the game. Michael Tamburino (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity) (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity) started going, 5+ innings, allowing two runs on six hits, while striking out six. Josh Garran (Old Tappan, NJ/Northern Valley Regional) (Old Tappan, NJ/Northern Valley Regional) tossed 1+ innings, allowing two runs on three hits, while Josh Grant (Corning, NY/Corning Painted Post West) (Corning, NY/Corning Painted Post West) pitched one inning, allowing one run on two hits, as he sees his record fall to 2-1. Neil Pezzullo (Harwich, MA/Harwich) (Harwich, MA/Harwich) came on for 1/3 of an inning, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits, while Eddie Byrne (Yonkers, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) (Yonkers, NY/Yonkers) pitched the final 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and struck out three.
The Setters will await a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The selection show will take place on Sunday, May 12 at 10 pm and will be streamed on http://ncaa.com.
