Ramapo’s baseball team started off their 2025 season with three away games, falling to Centenary and defeating Farmingdale State College twice in their first doubleheader. The team stands at 2-1 for the season and has not yet played a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
Ramapo had a rough start with their first game of the season against Centenary, losing 1-9 on Feb. 26. Senior Jack Martin pitched for seven complete innings, allowing five hits, one run and eight strikeouts.
Neither team scored until later in the game — in the fifth inning, Ramapo received one run from senior pitcher and infielder Dominick Ciani. Ciani singled with two outs before stealing second base. Zach Bailey hit a double to center field, giving the needed time for Ciani to get home with the team’s lone run. Ramapo collected seven hits in the game with senior Robert Klawans finishing 2-4, along with Bailey and Jesse Swartout each walking away with doubles on the board.
In the bottom of the sixth, Centenary tied the game before earning eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitching change to Jake Depetris. Depetris took the loss in relief, surrendering four earned runs one hit from Centenary. This pushed for another pitching change for the Roadrunners, putting in junior Will Kennedy that earned Centenary four more runs before changing out for Ryan Lasko. Lasko ended the game with three more runs for Centenary, ending the game with two strikeouts and one hit.
The Roadrunners then took on Farmingdale State College on Saturday, winning the first two matchups of the day with a score of 8-3. James Pazdera started out on the mound for the Roadrunners where he pitched for the first six innings, earning eight strikeouts, along with allowing only two hits and no runs. Ciani worked a three inning save where he struck out four and surrendered three hits and three earned runs.
Ramapo got on the board in the third inning after Matt Lalomia got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing home senior Weston Baronian. In the fifth inning, John Higgins drove home Bailey with an RBI double.
Keeping up the momentum, in the seventh, Bailey hit a single to center field, forcing Jake Tallent home for a 3-0 score. Higgins followed up with a hit sending Zach Novakowski home with a fly before Bailey scored on wild pitch, bringing the score to 5-0. In the eighth inning, Tallent drove home Eric Knapp with an RBI double before senior catcher Swartout hit a two RBI double in the ninth, sending Klawans and Lalomia across home plate. The Roadrunners earned 12 hits, eight runs and seven RBIs, pushing them towards the win against Farmingdale with five hits, three RBIs and three runs.
Ramapo then went on to win 15-10 to Farmingdale later in the day, receiving their second win of the series. In game two, Nick Danbrowney earned the win in his first start of the season, as he tallied seven strikeouts, two walks and surrendered two hits over the first five innings of the game.
The Roadrunners started off with a 9-0 lead through the top of the sixth before the Rams got on to the board in the bottom of the inning. To start it off, in the first inning Lalomia singled home Tallent for the game’s first run before Swartout brought home Lalomia and Higgings with an RBI single bringing the score to 3-0.
Novakowski scored in the second inning after Bailey’s double to center field before Ciani and Swartout scored on an infield error by the Rams in the third, receiving a 6-0 board. Baronian hit a double to right-center in the first to bring home Klawans to push the score to 7-0, in the sixth Higgins scored on an error and Novakowski would bring the teams ninth run on an RBI, 9-0.
The Rams brought down the lead with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth before Ramapo followed up with six runs of their own. Klawans, Lalomia and Higgins all scored on Shawn Piotrowski’s double, earning a 15-7 lead. The Rams earned their final three runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh as the Roadrunners came away with their final win of 15-10. The Roadrunners earned 14 hits in the game including four doubles and one triple.
The Roadrunners will travel next to St Joseph’s University Long Island to play against the Golden Eagles on Wednesday March 5. They will then play their first home game against Amherst College in a double header on Saturday March 8 at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
rbleich@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
