Utilityman Marinelli gets first-team All-MAAC nod for Jaspers

Four members of the Manhattan baseball team were selected to postseason All-MAAC teams, headlined by Frankie Marinelli, earning a place on the first team as a utility player.

Joining Marinelli is Pete Durocher, who is slotted in on the second team as an outfielder. Garret Garbinski and Oliver Pudvar pitched their way to spots on the MAAC All-Rookie Team.

This is Marinelli’s first time earning All-MAAC honors in his Jasper career. In the regular season, Marinelli slashed .303/.452/.374 as the leadoff man. He collected 59 hits, 11 of which went for extra bases, belted his first career home run, and drove in 29. He crossed the plate a team-high 48 times and led the team in walks with 44. On the base paths, Marinelli is 20-25 on steal attempts.

This marks the second straight year Durocher has earned postseason recognition from the conference. The Jaspers centerfielder led the Green and White in the majority of hitting stats, including average (.330), OPS (.921), hits (74), doubles (16), triples (three), tied for the lead in home runs (8) and RBI (46).

The Manhattan baseball squad was scheduled to face Canisius College Wednesday in the first round of the MAAC tournament. They had clinched a spot in the championships for the first time since the 2021 season with its series win against Rider, 2-1, following the 5-1 win in game one of the team’s doubleheader to close out the regular season. Manhattan dropped game two of the doubleheader, 7-0.

The Jaspers finished the regular season 21-32 overall, 13-11 MAAC.

Much like game one of the series on Thursday, Manhattan used small ball to get on the board. In the third inning, the Logan Pfannenbecker and Durocher connection struck again, each connecting on a pair of singles to get the pair on first and second.

Jack Lynch stepped in next and placed both in scoring position on a groundout. Alfredo Delgado brought Pfannenbecker home on a groundout to make the score 1-0 while also moving Durocher over to third. Perez knocked in Durocher with a single down the right-field line to make the score 2-0.

The Green and White struck again in the fifth inning. Durocher connected for another single and stole second for the center fielder’s 20th stolen base of the season. Lynch moved Durocher over 90 feet on a single. During the next at-bat, the Bronc’s pitcher threw an errant pitch which allowed both runners to move over and Durocher scored to run the score up to 3-0.

Pfannenbecker delivered his fourth home run of the year in the seventh inning, cranking a pitch to right field for a two-run shot to make the score 5-0.

Tyler Fagler tossed a gem to earn the win. The graduate student took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before the Broncs got an infield single. Fagler’s final line was seven innings, the lone hit, and seven punch outs while issuing no walks.

The back half of the doubleheader was scoreless until Rider broke the game open in the fifth inning with four runs which came off of a two-RBI single and two-RBI double.

Softball coach
leaves Jaspers

Manhattan College has parted ways with head softball coach Cat Clifford, the school announced.

“I want to thank Coach (Cat) Clifford for seven years of being a part of the Manhattan College community and serving the student-athletes,” director of athletics Marianne Reilly said. “We wish her the best of luck and nothing but success in her future endeavors. I look forward to continuing to elevate the softball program and the success of the student-athletes on and off the field, as we search for a new head coach.”

Clifford completed her second season at the helm of the softball program in 2023, after serving as the interim head coach. Clifford joined the Jaspers as an assistant coach in 2017 and helped guide them to a 2021 MAAC Tournament Championship.

A national search for the next head softball coach at Manhattan College will begin immediately.

The Jaspers finished the 2023 campaign, 13-35, with eight of those wins coming at home. Marika Deemer, Gabriella Mazzotta and Lauren Rende represented the Jaspers on the Academic All-District Team by College Sports Communications, in addition to earning MAAC All-Academic Team honors.

Softballers finish
strong, but not enough

Manhattan closed the women’s softball season, winning seven of its last nine, including the final three, but missed the MAAC Tournament for the second straight season.

The strong finish for the Jaspers started with a convincing 7-2 win at St. John’s on April 26. The win started a four-game winning streak for the Jaspers. Manhattan then swept Iona on April 28 before taking game one at Marist on May 1. After a loss in game two at Marist and a setback in game one at Saint Peter’s, the Jaspers rattled off three in a row to close the season with a win against Saint Peter’s in game two and a sweep of Quinnipiac on May 7.

The pitching staff found its form during the stretch. In the Jaspers’ seven wins, the Jaspers allowed three runs or less six times and struck out 25 batters in those six wins.

Eight of the Jaspers’ 13 wins came at home at Gaelic Park. Manhattan closed the season winning four in a row at home.