Monday, April 25, 2011
Cougars give up eight runs in final two innings
Through the first five innings of Monday’s game, it looked like the Cougar baseball team was in position to win its second straight game over a top level team in the Super Essex Conference American Division. But late inning gaffes by Columbia and great hitting by West Orange led to the Mountaineers scoring eight unanswered runs in the final two frames, beating Columbia 9-2 at WOHS. With Columbia up 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning, West Orange’s Joe Boettinger drilled a homer over the left field fence to tie the score. Giovanni Loreto and Tom Attamante connected for consecutive triples giving West Orange a 3-2 lead and Matt Scalora drove in Attamante in the next at bat with a single dunked into centerfield. In the bottom half of the …
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Columbia boys make costly mistakes, lose to Millburn
The Miller baseball team took advantage of a poor defensive showing on Monday by the Cougars, and ran wild on the bases at Underhill Field, winning their fourth consecutive game, 7-3, over Columbia. Columbia allowed 10 stolen bases, without throwing out a runner, and made multiple fielding errors in the game. Only four of Millburn’s seven runs were earned. “We’re not playing well defensively. We won Saturday and we won on Friday last week, but we’ve been a little shaky defensively,” said CHS head coach Lorenzo Busichio. “It’s [the base-stealers] a concern. Our catchers have been doing a very good job the past couple of years and Rony has been ok early on. But he threw the ball bad today so we have to see if there’s something the matter …
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Cougars finish 18-10 and reach Greater Newark Tournament finals.
If you could only use one word to describe the 2010 Columbia baseball team, it would be nearly impossible. Words like courageous, tough, hardworking and resilient would come to mind right away for anyone who followed this team. But if it had to come down to one word that embodied the spirit of this club, it would have to be fight. No lead was too big for the Red and Black boys to overcome this season, and they always had Cougar Nation on the brink of heart attacks with all their late-inning dramatics and comebacks. Of the Cougars' 18 wins this season, 10 of them came in games in which the Cougars had to rally from behind. Three of their games went to extra innings, and Columbia was 2-1 in those games. Ten of Columbia's contests were …
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Columbia High School
17 Parker Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/columbia-baseball-turns-in-best-season-of-the-decade
2997
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Sunday, May 9, 2010
Columbia baseball rallies from five runs down to defeat Montclair in GNT semis.
The Columbia baseball team simply will not be denied. After being held scoreless for five innings on Saturday, the Cougar offense erupted for 11 runs in the next three innings, earning a spot in The Greater Newark Championship game. Columbia outlasted Montclair, 11-7, in a thrilling, eight-inning instant classic semifinal game played at Paul "Doc" Goeltz Field at Verona High School. "We're incredibly proud. It kind of goes to the way the kids have been all year. We've won enough of these games," said Columbia head coach Lorenzo Busichio, who played on the 1995 Columbia Cougars GNT Championship team. "To make the GNT championship, it's just so special." Matt McGriff, Eli Weiss and Joe Meola led off the eighth inning with three consecutive …
40.84256
-74.24792
151 Fairview Ave, Verona, NJ
Verona High School
/articles/the-eye-of-the-cougar
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Thursday, May 6, 2010
Murphy and Tamayo lead Columbia baseball to quarterfinal win over MKA.
It appears that the Columbia baseball team has found its ace. Sophomore pitcher Jimmy Murphy gave up one unearned run in the top of first inning and then went on to shut down the visiting Montclair Kimberley Academy boys at Underhill, propelling Columbia to a 6-1 win and a trip to the Greater Newark Tournament semifinals on Saturday. "I wasn't that nervous, I was just trying to stay focused and composed," Murphy said. "They picked me up with the bats." With runners at second and third and no one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, MKA decided to intentionally walk Andrew Rigassio and load the bases up for Stephen Tamayo. Bad decision. The senior catcher and co-captain made them pay, taking an 0-1 two-seam fastball over the leftfield …
40.73595
-74.25753
Burr Rd & Burroughs Way, Maplewood, NJ
Underhill Field
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Columbia pitchers surrender four homeruns, batters pick up two hits
A week ago the Columbia boys baseball team had just won its third straight game and were right in the thick of a tight race for the inaugural Super Essex American Division crown. But after today's 16-1 home loss to the Seton Hall Prep Pirates, the Cougars have fallen back down to Earth and face an uphill battle, should they hope to win the division. Things were very ugly very fast for the local boys. In his first start in over a week, Joel Brown-Christenson did not have his best stuff, and the Pirates made him pay. Already up 2-0, following a two-run single by Joe D'Angiolillo, Mike Scaduto came to the plate and drilled a three-run homer well over the right field fence, staking the Pirates to a commanding 5-0 lead. It was the first of two …
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Andrew Rigassio belts two homers, Tamayo throws out three runners, Hunter gives up a run through six.
Columbia's senior co-captains taught the West Morris Central baseball team two valuable lessons on Tuesday afternoon: you don't pitch to Andrew Rigassio and you don't run on Stephen Tamayo. The two captains led the Cougars to their third consecutive victory, defeating the Wolfpack, 5-3 at Underhill Field, behind two homers from Rigassio and three thrown-out runners by Tamayo. In the top of the first inning, after sophomore Cougar starter Nigel Hunter hit a batter with two outs, Shane Thompson came to the plate and belted a double to right field. Matt McGriff hit Eli Weiss on the relay, and Weiss fired home to Tamayo, who had the plate perfectly blocked to tag-out John Kwiatkoski at the plate, preventing a run and ending the top half of the…
Monday, April 12, 2010
Columbia baseball team defeats Millburn, 8-3.
Through the first six games of the season, the Columbia baseball team has shown that navigating through its lineup is like walking through a field of landmines—there are just no safe landing spots. Earlier Monday evening, Columbia scored five runs in the fourth inning at Millburn High School, defeating the Miller boys 8-3. "We're hitting the ball pretty well," said Columbia head coach Lorenzo Busichio. "Sometimes we're being a little too selective, we're taking fastballs right down the middle. But we don't swing at bad pitches, and when you do that, you kind of get the count in your favor." Millburn pitcher Ian Barry had been moving along just fine through the first three innings, surrendering just one run on three hits. But in the top of …
40.72142
-74.31637
462 Millburn Ave, Millburn, NJ
Millburn High School
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Thursday, April 8, 2010
Andrew Rigassio's seventh inning walk-off blast lifts Columbia baseball.
With the game on the line and Columbia's back against the wall, trailing by three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the bases juiced, the last person that the Bloomfield baseball team wanted to see was Andrew Rigassio. But he was exactly who the Cougars wanted to see, and the captain came through big time. Earlier Wednesday evening, Rigassio won the Columbia boys home-opener with a first pitch, walk-off grand slam that cleared the right field fence, giving the Cougars a dramatic 9-8 win. It was the team's second come-from-behind win in as many games, and improved the Cougars to 2-1 on the season. "Any time you get Andrew up with guys on base, I don't think the other team wants to see that right now," said Columbia head …
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
CHS baseball looking to take things a step further this season.
If there were only one word to describe the Columbia boys baseball team it would have to be: loaded. The Cougars were one successful bunt away from reaching the state sectional championships last season and are returning all but four starters, including 11 seniors. Head coach Lorenzo Busichio described last season's squad as one of the best that he had ever coached, but that last game is one that has stuck with him and his players as a contest they probably should've won. "I thought of it every day," Busichio said. "The whole game burns me and will for a long time." "It was a tough loss and I know that it was a game that we could've won or should've won but I'm really not thinking about that," said senior co-captain Andrew Rigassio. "I've …
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-74.26695
Columbia High School
17 Parker Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/cougar-baseball-team-loaded-with-talent-this-spring
2997
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Wendy Lauter
7:09 pm on Sunday, May 9, 2010
This article MUST be also shown on Maplewood Patch as was all the past CHS sports articles. Please make it so. Go Cougars. Go Jose. more ›