Adrean Post 625 2001 Alumni Watch

Ryan Finn pounding homers for Siena College
By CRAIG MUDER Observer-Dispatch

March 27, 2001 - LOUDONVILLE — Junior slugger Ryan Finn continued his assault on the Siena College baseball record book this past weekend when the former Clinton High School star homered three times and drove in 11 runs in a three-game series with Fairfield University.

The three home runs raised Finn's career total to 25, tying the all-time record held by 1986 Siena graduate Steve Borg, and Monday he was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Player of the Week.

In Siena's doubleheader sweep on Saturday, Finn hit three-run homers in the fourth and sixth innings of the opener to erase a 6-0 deficit and power the Saints to an 8-7 win.

After severely spraining his ankle later in the game, Finn taped up his ankle and then helped Siena win the second game 8-0. He walked and scored in the fourth, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth, and then clubbed his third homer of the day, a two-run shot, in the seventh.
On Sunday, he capped a 6-for-10 weekend with two more hits, including a two-run single, in a 7-4 loss.

Last year, Finn had a school-record 64 hits and he entered this season with a .354 career batting average. After a sluggish start this season, Finn is hitting .245 and he leads the team in both home runs (4) and RBIs (23).
Left-hander Brent Wengert (Whitesboro) picked up the victory and was one of three Siena pitchers who combined to shut out Fairfield University 8-0 on Saturday. Wengert (2-4) walked four and struck out two.

Freshman second baseman Kevin Roberts (Notre Dame) helped Siena turn four doubleplays in the two games, and the Saints' leadoff hitter also had two hits in the 8-0 victory.

Despite missing five games from complications caused by tonsillitis and being slowed by a mid-season knee injury, Plattsburgh State senior Jana Rhude (Rome/Westmoreland) finished her collegiate basketball career as the Cardinals' all-time leading rebounder with 718.

“It made me mentally stronger,” said Rhude of the adversity she faced in her final season. “I learned to just suck it up, deal with it, and make the most of the situation.”

Rhude, who scored a season-high 11 points against Oswego on Dec. 5, averaged 6.8 points per game for Plattsburgh (12-13). She led the Cardinals in rebounding as a sophomore and a junior, setting a single-season record with 298 rebounds — a 12.4 average — including a career-high 21 against St. Lawrence.

Rhude was known around the conference as a fierce competitor with a solid interior game.

“She worked so hard to get her game like that,” said coach Cheryl Cole. “The worst part is that her game relied so much on conditioning. The time she was out totally defeated her game. I felt bad for the kid because she worked so hard. We will miss her next year.”

Junior Ed Firpo (Rome Free Academy) entered the game in the fourth inning and was 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly, a double and two RBIs as Cortland State's baseball team, No. 7 in the NCAA Division III rankings, finished an 8-3 southern trip with a 17-2 win over West Virginia Wesleyan. Firpo batted .357 with three RBIs.

Senior Larry Williams (New Hartford) was Cortland's second-leading hitter during the trip. He batted .395 with five RBIs and five stolen bases, and he extended his hitting streak to 11 games over two seasons before going hitless in a 5-1 loss to Division I Lehigh. Sophomore Cory Haggerty (Ilion) batted .345 for the Red Dragons and had two doubles in a 5-3 win over Tiffin.

Freshman first baseman Jason Engelhart (Whitesboro) led Western New England College of Springfield, Mass., in hitting with a .450 average during the Golden Bears' recent spring baseball trip to Miami.

Engelhart was 8-for-18 at the plate, including a two-run homer in his first at bat of the season-opening tournament, and he had four RBIs. He played in six of the seven games, starting four of them at first base, and he also pitched two innings of relief as Western New England got off to a 3-4 start.

His collegiate football career at St. John Fisher College may be over because of an injury, but junior Bill Virkler (New Hartford) has made quite an impact as a baseball player for the Cardinals. During their week in Fort Myers, Fla., Virkler started all eight games in centerfield and batted .381 and led St. John Fisher (4-4) in hits (8-for-21) and hitting with runners in scoring position (.556). He was second in slugging percentage and total bases and third in on-base percentage.

University at Albany senior Jeff Rossiter (Whitesboro) had three hits and four RBIs, including a home run in each game, as the Great Danes swept a doubleheader with Lafayette on Saturday. Rossiter, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound first baseman, has started all 14 games for the Division I Danes, whose 3-11 start includes a 14-0 loss to perennial national power Miami. Through 14 games, Rossiter is hitting .269 with a slugging percentage of .500 with four doubles, a triple and two home runs.

Former Thomas R. Proctor High School and Mohawk Valley Community College star infielder Pat Murphy (Utica) had an RBI single and scored four runs in Division II Dominican College's 12-1 baseball win over Tri-State University during the team's trip to Homestead, Fla. Murphy also had two run-scoring hits in a 5-4 victory over Indiana-Wesleyan.

SUNY Utica/Rome junior shortstop A.J. Durso (Proctor/Utica) went 3-for-7 and scored four times in the Wildcats' doubleheader sweep at Vassar on Sunday. Durso is batting .321 and has scored eight runs.

Sophomore Chris Vecsey (Hamilton) pitched 4+ innings and got the win as the Amherst baseball team beat Elmhurst 11-6.

Senior pitcher Nan Duga (Ilion) has a 6-3 record, a 0.40 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 67ß innings after helping Springfield College get its softball season off to an 11-4 start.

Duga, the Pride's all-time leader in strikeouts and wins, pitched a two-hit shutout and fanned 10 batters as Springfield blanked nationally-ranked Western Connecticut State 6-0 on March 20.

Duga also shut out Wisconsin-Oshkosh 3-0 with a two-hitter, and she recently was named the Maroon Club Female Athlete of the Week for the period ending March 21.

Junior offensive lineman Steve Cully (New Hartford) is one of eight returning starters on offense for a University of Connecticut football team that started spring practice Monday. The 6-foot-4, 288-pound Cully started all 11 games at right tackle last season.

Sophomore Lindsay Stoller (Whitesboro) scored a goal as the St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team opened its season with a 20-0 victory over Hood in the first round of the Hood College Tournament in Washington, D.C.
Sophomore defenseman Adam Trick (Lowville) is a member of the Keuka College men's lacrosse team. The Storm travels to Clinton on April 24 for a game against Hamilton.