May 27, 2009

5/28 Photo Gallery

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Fans can follow the Marist baseball team at the NCAA Tournament through this blog. This blog will contain updates from when the Red Foxes depart campus until they arrive back in Poughkeepsie. This blog will be written by Sports Information Director Mike Ferraro, and comments and questions can be sent to Michael.Ferraro@Marist.edu.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27

2:28 p.m.: Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the 2009 Marist Baseball NCAA Tournament blog! I'm Sports Information Director Mike Ferraro, and just as we've done for the MAAC Tournament and previous occasions, we will be providing comments/observations/updates for the duration of this trip.

Our scheduled departure time from campus was 2 p.m., but when Assistant Coach Tom Shanley got the desired number on his head count at 1:57, off we journeyed onto Route 9. South on 9 we go at this point, through the labyrinth of 40 traffic lights we will encounter until we reach I-84. The fact that we have 40 lights should tell you A) everything you need to know about Route 9 and B) more than you need to know about yours truly for actually counting them.

The team practiced from 11 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. today. Prior to that, Kyle Meyer, Brian McDonough, Ricky Pacione, Kyle Putnam and Dennis Healy had interviews with Time Warner Cable 6's Lindsay Liquori.

Here's the schedule for the rest of the day .... we will be flying charter out of Teterboro, New Jersey and into Tallahassee. The flight is scheduled to be from 5-7:30.

4:44: Sitting on the plane on the tarmac at Teterboro. One of the beauties of flying charter is the simplicity of it. We just took our carry-ons into a waiting room with a TV and way too much coffee available. When we got the signal from Associate AD Travis Tellitocci that we were ready to go, we walked across the runways and boarded the plane.

It's a 40-seater, with assistant coach Joe Michalski in front of me, the left side of the infield (Richard Curylo and Ricky Pacione) to the right and B.J. Martin behind me. We're starting to distribute some questionnaires to the players that will be used on ESPNU's broadcast.

We'll be back in hopefully a little over three hours from Tallahassee!

7:47: Welcome to ... Raleigh?

OK, see if you can follow this. We were supposed to take off in a northbound direction from Teterboro. However, because of heavy traffic at Newark Airport, our direction got changed to taking off in a southbound direction. However, because we were going southbound instead of northbound, we were now carrying too much weight (Note to Karen Kara ... See, I knew what I was talking about when I said I shouldn't have had that bag of Cheetos!!!). So we sat on the tarmac at Teterboro dumping gas to dump weight. However, with inclement weather in Tallahassee, we now wouldn't have enough gas if we had to circle. So here we are in Raleigh getting gas -- now getting ready to take off.

9:34: And we're now in Tallahassee. Sorry about the last rushed post ... we were literally getting ready to take off as I was finishing typing.

We got to see some heavy-duty weather on the way down from Raleigh. About 2/3 of the way between there and here, we spotted some thunderstorm clouds with extremely high tops and lightning dancing through the sky.

We're on the bus right now headed to our hotel. Back with more once we arrive.

THURSDAY, MAY 28

12:37 a.m.: Blog post ... food ... blog post ... food. Sorry readers, the food won.

Mike Haase is back as my roomie for this trip. Upon reaching our hotel room and bringing up our bags/radio equipment/container of media + postseason guides, I made a couple of phone calls, checked my e-mail and found what channel Versus was so Haase could catch OT of his beloved Blackhawks taking on the Red Wings in Game Five of the Western Conference finals. I was interested as well, but truth be told, I was secretly hoping for the game to end quickly (one way or the other) so Haase and I could find some food. Well, Detroit's Darren Helm scored 3:58 into OT, and within five minutes of the game ending, Mike and I were on our way to Steak N' Shake.

It was my first-ever trip to a Steak N' Shake, which came highly recommended by Mike, and he knew what he was talking about. We also happened to run into approximately 15 members of the team there.

By the way ... if you were thinking of making a pun with Haase and Tallahassee, about 100 people beat you to it already. I know I'm not going there; I have a broadcast booth to share with him this weekend, and that stuff is what gets your mic cut.

Busy day awaits us once the sun rises on Thursday ... among other things, have to drop some material off to the ESPNU production crew, there's a press conference here at 1, a practice after that, a meeting with players/coaches and the ESPNU crew, a pre-tournament meeting and a pre-tournament dinner.

Good night and Go Red Foxes!

8:33: Good morning! Going to make this quick as I'm headed down to breakfast and then out on the road for what promises to be a hectic day ... it's gloomy outside right now, and may not get that much better throughout the day. The clouds are going to hold the temperature to "only" 84, with there being a good chance of thunderstorms this afternoon/evening. We'll have to see if that disrupts practice at all.

Back with more later!

1 p.m.: Press conference about to get underway ... back with a report of Dennis Healy's comments afterward.

2:44: Well, it looks like I'm getting my indoctrination to Florida weather!

On our way out of the press conference, we were told by Tournament Manager Chuck Morris that inclement weather was headed this way. The field was tarped prior to the press conference, so it was going to be left on the field, although we could stretch and throw in the outifled unless a weather warning -- meaning there was lightning within an eight-mile radius -- was issued.

Well, practice began at 2. The warning was issued at 2:04. The sky opened up at 2:08.

The team is taking BP in the cages underneath the stadium. Back with more soon!

10:47: In every NCAA Tournament I've ever been to, one fact has remained true in all of them -- the day before your round one game is a lot of fun, but it's a hectic kind of fun. Today was no different.

The team did end up getting back onto the field for approximately the last 10 minutes of practice, and got to take some ground balls after the tarp was removed. After that, Dennis Healy, Kyle Meyer, and Richard Curylo had a sit-down with the ESPNU crew of producers Tom Scofield and Todd Jones and broadcasters Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Kyle Peterson (color). There were also some individual sit-downs with the guys.

By the time all that was done, there was only an hour-and-a-half until the umpires' meeting at home plate to discuss the ground rules, so I took a walk around campus, which led me to a Domino's, which led me to a really good late lunch. Following the umpires' meeting, there was an administrative meeting followed by the pre-tournament dinner.

I have some work to catch up on right now, but later tonight we'll have some new photos as well as some more news that came out of today.

FRIDAY, MAY 29

1:30 a.m.: Here are quotes from Dennis Healy at Thursday's press conference. Special thanks to FSU Associate SID Chuck Walsh for compiling these.

Opening Statement

"We're thrilled to be here, the kids played great in the tournament last week. We've got some young guys who play a bunch and some seniors who play some roles depending on who is pitching and who we're playing. This is a great venue, I've never been to Florida State, the stadium is awesome and our kids should be excited."

On his first round starter

"We're going to start a left-hander, [Josh] Rickards. He's pitched game one for us on the weekends since he was a sophomore. His numbers aren't the best, but he's a free spirit and has pitched in front of a bunch of people so I feel like he's going to be able to handle it and throw strikes. If he doesn't throw strikes early on, we'll know right away."

On the keys to the teams recent play

"I think timely hitting, our pitching has been good all year. Our program is built on pitching, we've got some guys at the back end that pitch with high velocity and good breaking stuff, but timely hitting has been the key for us. Kyle Meyer hit a huge three-run home run for us in the series against Fairfield and Brian McDonough had a huge double in the game in which we won the tournament."

On the keys against Florida State

"For the most part our right-handers need to do some damage against their left-handers and more than anything we've got to play well and throw strikes, make plays defensively and get some hits."

1:47: Before we call it a night, this from the "let's close on a light note" department.

Our good friend Geoff Brault, the voice of Marist women's hoops and the Hudson Valley Renegades, sent me an e-mail today. Geoff is a blog fan, but unfortunately, he had to remind me that my sign off of "Good Night and Go Red Foxes" was actually a rip-off of his sign-off for Marist women's hoops broadcasts.

Now, believe me when I say I didn't do this on purpose. For one, my ability to think coherently come blog sign-off time of night leaves a lot to be desired. For two, Geoff will send me a bill (payable net 30, interest following) if I infringe on his "copyright." So, I'll change it.

Good night. Go Red Foxes. Go Geoff Brault, too :)

10:13: Good late morning! Rolled out of bed around 8:45 and went down to breakfast in the hotel, and just getting caught up on some work before today's game.

Here is the schedule for today at Dick Howser Stadium ... Georgia will face Ohio State at noon, and we will face the Seminoles at 4 p.m. Today's losers will face each other at noon tomorrow, with the loser of that game eliminated from the tournament. The winners will face each other at 4 p.m.

Once again, Mike Haase and I will have the call of this and every game Marist will play in the tournament. We'll go on air with a 15-minute pre-game show starting at 3:45.

You might also notice some new photos with the blog and on the front page of GoRedFoxes.com, as well as a photo gallery link with this story. Special thanks to Mike Haase and Assistant AD Darren McCormack for taking/sending those.

We'll dig a little deeper into today's game later on.

12:45: Headed to the stadium in about an hour. Assistant coaches Joe Michalski and Tom Shanley went over along with Mike Haase on the Travis Tellitocci Express Line, which left the station (um, hotel) at about 11:30.

More on today's pitching match-up ... Dennis Healy is sticking with what he's done since 2007, which is to give Josh Rickards (5-3, 5.57) the ball first on the weekends. Coach Healy knows that Josh is going to compete, and having a left-hander who's done a very good job of controlling the running play should come in handy against a Seminoles team that has swiped 90 bags in 58 games.

For FSU, it's freshman lefty Brian Busch (6-2, 4.28), who's been coming into his own as the season has progressed. Busch did not begin the season in Florida State's rotation, but he has won his last five decisions and has allowed the opposition to his just .242 against him (70 hits allowed in 80 innings). He's walked 33 and struck out 59.

We'll have more from Dick Howser Stadium prior to Mike and I going on air at 3:45. And when we do, we'll have a little story about the most rabid of the FSU fans -- they call themselves The Animals.

1:58: Maybe we won't be starting at four after all.

We're on the bus on the way to Dick Howser Stadium right now. About 10 minutes ago, Dennis Healy got a phone call informing him that the Ohio State-Georgia game is now in a lightning delay, which means that it will be stopped until a half-hour after the last instance of lightning clears the area. A quick look at weather.com showed that there's apparently one thunderstorm cell in the whole panhandle, and it's close enough to the stadium to be wreaking havoc.

Georgia, incidentally, is leading 10-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Back with more from the stadium soon.

2:47: We're at Dick Howser Stadium ... and sitting in the parking lot waiting for the Ohio State-Georgia game to resume. The sun is out here, but there are still some dark clouds off in the distance. Additionally, we have to clear the half-hour window for there to be no strikes of lightning within an eight-mile radius. The tarp is coming off the field now, but we may not resume play until about 3:30. There is a mandatory break of at least 53 minutes between games, so chances are, we won't be starting until after 5.

Now would be as good of a time as any to bring up "The Animals," a rabid group of Florida State baseball fans. We were made aware of them yesterday by Florida State's athletics department, and earlier today, I got an e-mail from Robert McDonald of Tallahassee with some more info on them:

-- They sit along the first-base line, and although they will heartily support their Seminoles, they'll applaud great plays made by anyone.
-- They will break out in a chorus of "O Canada" at some point (I've been told by some that this will occur in the fifth inning). The origins and reasons for this are unknown. Hey, if you're an Animal and you know why, drop me a line and let me know!
-- When Providence qualified for the tournament in 1999, it was announced that the Friars were going to be dropping their baseball program after the season. The Animals adopted Providence as a favorite team (except, of course, when playing FSU) and even gave them a cookout.

And you have to appreciate any group of fans with its own Web site:

http://www.sectionb.com/index2.htm

And here's a link to the story of the Animals helping Providence:

http://www.sectionb.com/prov.htm

Stay tuned for more updates once we get a better idea of when play will resume.

4:05: As for when the Red Foxes-Seminoles contest will start, I can positively, definitively, without a shadow of a doubt say ... that I have no idea!

Here's what happened ... at about 3:25, some players from Georgia and Ohio State started getting loose. An announcement came that play was going to resume at 3:55. However, at 3:42, another announcement came right as I was leaving the concession stand -- lightning was back in the area, and another delay was in effect.

Now the tarp is back out. It's cloudy and breezy here, and thunderstorms are dancing all around the area, albeit nothing is overhead. Again, however, in the vicinity is close enough not to play.

At this point, I don't see Ohio State-Georgia resuming any time soon. There's a good chance we won't get underway here before 7 at this point.

More updates coming. For now, Mike and I are sitting here behind home plate with, thankfully, an overhang over our head.

Time to re-use the line I think I've been saying all day ... we'll keep you posted. I don't think Geoff Brault has a copyright on that one, but I better check ...

4:39: Just over from the PA system ... we're not resuming until 5:20 at the earliest. Call this a semi-educated guess, but with the storms in the vicinity and the thunder still crackling from a fairly close distance, it seems like it could be significantly later than that.

I'm going to guess 6 p.m. for a re-start. Haase made the same guess.

Meanwhile, I guess we have something new in the weather lexicon now ... when you punch up Tallahassee on weather.com, you'll notice that there's a "Significant Weather Alert." Not a watch. Not a warning of any kind. A significant weather alert.

This Significant Weather Alert is in effect until 5 p.m. A strong thunderstorm was indicated by Doppler Radar at 4:05 approximately 15 miles north of us, and it's moving east at the snail pace at 10-15 miles per hour.

The sun is out here. It hasn't rained in hours. But the delay is now 2 hours, 50 minutes old because the storms just keep circling.

There was a pretty impressive lightning display out beyond left field about a half hour ago that has since subsided.

4:44: You know what I love about doing games with Haase? The man is perpetually prepared. As I'm here trying to audition for a job at the Weather Channel, he's dutifully reading the Florida State media guide. Page by page.

Maybe I should do that myself so I have a good broadcast whenever this game may start ... hey, Haase can do about a three-hour pregame all by himself with the amount of reading he's done in this delay.

5:42: We've now been informed that we won't be re-starting the Ohio State-Georgia game before 6:15. The lightning display going on in left field is the most impressive it's been all day.

Leon County, where Tallahassee is located, is under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 6 p.m.

I'll amend my guess now ... between the time it's going to take to finish the game in progress, and the necessary break between games, I don't see us starting before 9 p.m. now.

The delay is approaching four hours ... and counting ...

6:43: At 6:37, the loudest cheer that's been heard at Dick Howser Stadium in five hours erupted. Yes, the grounds crew appeared on the field to clear the tarp.

The Ohio State-Georgia game is scheduled to resume at 7 p.m. Georgia holds a 10-2 lead, and the game will resume at the start at the bottom of the fifth.

At this point, any other delays could mean the Red Foxes will not play today. A game can't start here after 11 p.m., so the Ohio State-Georgia tilt will need to wrap up before 10 if the Red Foxes are to play the Seminoles today.

For now, one would have to think the earliest the Marist-Florida State game could start is at 9, and that's assuming a quick finish to this game and no other weather predicaments.

A popular question that's been floated around these parts does not have an answer as of yet. ESPNU is also televising games in the Irvine Regional at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. It is unknown at this point if the games will be shown on a regional basis. However, one thing is for certain ... with Stephen Strasburg on the hill for San Diego State against Virginia in about 15 minutes, you can bet the folks at ESPNU will have a good portion of the country tuned to that game.

Both teams are now warming up, and hopefully we'll see some baseball soon!

7:33: Just completed the seventh-inning stretch, as play between Ohio State and Georgia has resumed at a brisk pace. The Bulldogs lead 13-3.

If the game keeps up at this pace, a 9 p.m. start seems plausible. We'll post once this game goes final and we get an official start time for Marist-FSU.

9:04: OK, here's where we're at:

Georgia beat Ohio State 24-8 (a 10-run eighth will do that for you). Georgia first baseman Rich Poythress went 4-for-4 with three homers and seven driven in. Two of his home runs are still circling Tallahassee. Hopefully neither will be mistaken for lightning and cause a five-hour delay.

First pitch of Marist-FSU will be at 9:30. Check out myself and Mike Haase on the air beginning at 9:15.

Here's the lineups, first for Marist:

Richard Curylo, SS
Jon Schwind, CF
Ricky Pacione, 3B
Bryce Nugent, C
Brian McDonough, LF
Ryan Gauck, 1B
Andrew Stanton, DH
John Prano, 2B
Kyle Meyer, RF

And on the mound, it's the senior lefty from Glenolden, Pa. -- Josh Rickards.

Tyler Holt, CF
Stephen Cardullo, SS
Mike McGee, LF
Jason Stidham, 2B
Stuart Tapley, 3B
Tommy Oravetz, DH
Jack Posey, 1B
Ruari O'Connor, RF
Rafael Lopez, C

On the mound, it's freshman lefty Brian Busch.

SATURDAY, MAY 30

2:03 a.m.: Tough night. The Red Foxes looked good for a while, and then it just came apart quickly and completely as Florida State scored at least three runs in their last four times up.

Well, there's only one way to look at it now. The next game is 10 hours from now against Ohio State. The Red Foxes have to win this one to keep what's been an awesome ride to get to this point going. A win means we get to play for one more day.

Haase and I will be on air at 11:45 a.m. We need to get a really late dinner first and catch up on some work before we rise, shine and head over to the ballpark.

Good night everyone!

9:50: Quick turnaround, but we're now on our way back to the ballpark. Not a cloud to be found in the sky, and the temperature is 73 degrees.

Today's high is expected to be 89 degrees with zero (yes, that's right, zero) chance of rain. Looks like a great day for baseball. Back with more once we get to the ballpark.

11:42: Here are today's lineups, first for Marist. The Red Foxes are the designated visiting team, as determined by a coin toss last night:

Richard Curylo, SS
Jon Schwind, CF
Ricky Pacione, 2B
Bryce Nugent, DH
Brian McDonough, LF
Ryan Gauck, 1B
George Agostini, DH
Andrew Stanton, C
Kyle Meyer, RF

And on the mound, it's righty B.J. Martin.

Couple notes on the lineup ... Nugent and Stanton flip-flop DH'ing and catching, re-uniting the Stanton and Martin battery ... Stanton caught Martin for his 19-strikeout game and the clincher against Fairfield when Martin took a no-hitter into the 8th ... with a righty on the mound, Agostini returns to the lineup at third, Pacione kicks over to second, and John Prano will not start.

For Ohio State:

Zach Hurley, LF
Cory Kovanda, 2B
Michael Stephens, CF
Dan Burkhart, C
Ryan Dew, DH
Justin Miller, 3B
Michael Arp, RF
Tyler Engle, SS
Matt Streng, 1B

And on the mound, it's right-hander Dean Wolosiansky (pronounced Wo-low-c-ann-skee).

Wolosiansky is 11-2 with a 5.82 ERA ... if he's going well, he'll generate a lot of ground balls.

Haase and I are going on air in three minutes. Give us a listen!

4:12: The season is over with a 6-4 loss to Ohio State. We've been informed that we'll be flying home in about three hours, so it's time to post some stuff online, pack up, and get outta town.

We'll have more later.

9:55: And we're literally back in New York, as we've just hopped on the Thruway.

We landed about 45 minutes ago in Teterboro, the same airport we flew out of on Wednesday. The charter from Tallahassee to Teterboro was just over two hours and seemed to fly by. The snacks, healthy drinks and XM Radio (where I hope B.J. Martin didn't mind me identifying his potential walk-out music for next year on the "90s on 9" Channel) just enhanced it.

Should probably get back to campus shortly after 11.

11:27: Back on campus as the bus has been unloaded and everyone has departed, bringing this year to a close. What a ride it was.

Speaking of rides, the last bus ride of the season brought about the last Andrew Stanton-chosen movie of the season and his four-year career, The Fan. There was a lot of attention paid to pointing out the numerous plot holes in it.

Stanton also deserves credit for uttering one of the best one-liners I got to hear since the game against Ohio State ended. On the bus ride back to the hotel after the game, I got an earful of this:

"This means I have to get a job now."

We certainly wish Andrew and classmates Peter Barone, Dan Gallagher, Brian McDonough, Kyle Meyer, Josh Rickards and Jacob Wiley as they now move on.

We'll be back with one final post tomorrow -- a close to the season.

P.S.: Richard Cary really did have Magic in 6 and Lakers in 6, didn't he?

MONDAY, JUNE 1

2:35 a.m.: So how does one spend his first day of vacation after baseball season ends? Watching baseball, of course. Made my first trip to Citi Field to see the Marlins-Mets game on Sunday -- a 3-2 win for New York. I'll give the new park a plus rating.

First and foremost ... THANK YOU to everyone who supported our efforts with the blogs and broadcasts this season, including our players, coaching staff and administration -- it was greatly appreciated. I had the opportunity to see a lot of exciting baseball and meet some terrific families of our players, and everyone was terrific to me and my staff.

Good luck to our eight departing seniors. We're losing eight great guys and ballplayers in Kenny Anderson, Peter Barone, Dan Gallagher, Brian McDonough, Kyle Meyer, Josh Rickards, Andrew Stanton and Jacob Wiley. You guys will be missed on and off the field. Special thanks to Mr. Stanton for his work interning for our office this past fall -- and for remaining on speaking terms with me after it was over :)

We know that Dennis Healy, Joe Michalski and Tom Shanley are looking forward to next year's incoming class of freshmen. The talk of of the future is enough to make me ask one question:

When is Opening Day 2010?