Friday, May 6, 2011
Rider’s club baseball team finished the regular season in second place in the district and has qualified for the National Club Baseball Association District II Playoff.
Talk about a grand slam season. Rider’s club baseball team finished the regular season in second place in the district and has qualified for the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) District II Playoff in Oneonta, New York this weekend, May 6-8. If Rider wins the double-loss elimination tournament, the team will qualify for the NCBA World Series in Johnstown, Pa. from May 20-24.
“This is the first year we have ever made the postseason and for as long as I have been here, it is the first year we have had a winning record,” said team co-captain Dan Petrino. Petrino along with co-captains Matt Hvisdock and Mike Degasperi have played for the team for the past four years.
The team’s first game in the tournament will be held on Friday, May 6, against the defending national champions Northeastern University.
Rider’s club baseball team plays in Division II South of the NCBA, which is a nationally ranked inter-collegiate league. The league is made up of eight districts and there are two subdivisions for each district. District II South is composed of Rider University, Hofstra University, New York University, The College of New Jersey, Montclair State and University of Pennsylvania. The top two teams in each sub-division move on the district playoffs.
“We have received a lot of support from our families who travel to watch us play and we have had a lot friends come out to support us,” Petrino said. “It’s also noteworthy that our first game in the playoffs is against the defending national champions Northeastern University.”
For more information about Rider’s club baseball team, please visit www.riderclubbaseball.webs.com.