Box Score
LANTANA, Fla. – The baseball teams representing New York Institute of Technology and Felician University would not go gentle into that good night.
Playing amid the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, and receiving the news -- while competing against each other -- of the NCAA's decision to cancel its 2020 Division II Baseball Tournament, the Bears and Golden Falcons seemingly refused to leave the field on Thursday evening. Their non-conference game, played at the Santaluces Athletics Complex as part of the Palm Beach Challenge, lasted four hours, 10 minutes.
In the end, New York Tech claimed a 24-8 victory. The Bears (8-5) are ranked No. 24 in the most recent national NCAA Division II writers' poll and second in the East Region version.
"I was tipped off early that (Thursday) would not be a normal day," said 17th-year Felician head coach Chris Langan. "A Northeast 10 Conference coach called me before our game even started (at 3:30 p.m.) to say that their conference was shutting down for four weeks and I should stay by my phone, even during the game."
Once the contest was underway, Felician junior catcher Shawn Vazquez (Millville, N.J.) went 3 for 4 with a home run and four runs batted in. Junior left fielder Anthony Condito (Nutley, N.J.) drove in three runs for the Golden Falcons, and junior third baseman Sean Downey (Elizabeth, N.J.) went 1 for 1 plus two walks and scored three times.
Six Golden Falcon pitchers combined to allow 21 hits, issue nine walks and hit three batters. Seven Felician errors led to 14 unearned runs for the Bears. New York Tech was led by sophomore left fielder E.J. Cumbo (East Meadow, N.Y.), who went 7 for 7 with two doubles, four runs and five RBI. It marked the first seven-hit game this season by any NCAA player in any Division.
Felician, the designated home team, fell behind, 7-1, after 3 ½ innings. Vazquez hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. The Golden Falcons answered New York Tech's three-run fifth with a four-spot, highlighted by Condito's three-run single, in the home half, to pull to within 10-8.
The Bears, however, put the game away by plating seven runs in the sixth. The sloppy inning by the Golden Falcons contained two walks, a hit batter, two wild pitches, a passed ball and two errors to go along with four New York Tech hits. Meanwhile, four Bear relievers combined to hold Felician scoreless for the final four stanzas.
About halfway through the game came the NCAA's decree that all its remaining winter championships, as well as each of its spring ones, would be cancelled as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Langan ended up using 28 players on Thursday, including all 11 of his seniors. Senior Carlos Bermudez (Miami, Fla./Tampa Bay Christian), a catcher, spent the ninth inning playing second base.
"It's a cliché that no one is guaranteed tomorrow," Langan said. "Well, during this game, that was quite literally true with regard to the sport of baseball."
The Golden Falcons and Bears are scheduled to play again in Lantana on Friday at noon. However, officials from both the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and East Coast Conference are expected to confer on Friday to determine a course of action in light of the NCAA's latest announcement regarding COVID-19.
