Sullivan County Community College baseball hits the ground running

Generals seek to attract wealth of local talent

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY — College baseball has arrived in Sullivan County.

Coach Mike Marra, the college’s assistant director of athletics, will head the Sullivan County Generals, which is fielding a team for the first time since 1984. Marra looks forward to building a very competitive intercollegiate baseball program.

The Generals’ non-conference schedule consists of seven games. Three of those games have already been played against National Junior Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I power Globe Institute of Technology (The Generals lost those games by the scores of 13-3, 11-2 and 9-0).

The Generals played against The City University of New York (CUNY) power Bronx Community College. The Generals came up short by the score of 10-9 and also succumbed to Queensborough Community College by the scores of 4-3 and 11-8.

Marra said that his team played well despite the losses and that several of those games could have gone either way. Clearly, building a successful program is something that is going to take time; but given the talent on the team at present, coupled with the influx of good players from the area, the Generals will be very competitive in the near future.

Ryan Edwards and Adam Lake assist Marra.

Casey Pazzalia of Liberty High School will sign a letter of intent to play for the Generals. The ceremony will take place at the admissions building on March 29 at 1:00 p.m.

The team was scheduled to open its Mid-Hudson Conference schedule against perennial power Dutchess Community College at home on March 28 at 3:00 p.m.

“We look to be competitive in the Mid-Hudson Conference, which consists of Dutchess, Orange, Westchester, Rockland, Ulster and Sullivan [Counties],” Marra said.

The conference schedule is comprised of four game series with each opponent. Tuesdays and Fridays are single games, and Saturdays are double headers.

Marra hopes that the interest in baseball will attract the best local high school players to attend SCCC and afford those students an opportunity to represent their hometown and county with pride. The long-range goal is to establish baseball in the area as a regional and national power.