A Look Back on 2009

As the year 2009 comes to a close, lets take time to look back on a very successful year in Fisher College Athletics. Both the Men's Basketball team and Baseball team captured Sunrise Conference titles and set themselves up to repeat in 2010. For now, here is a month by month breakdown of the 2009 year for Fisher College Athletics.

January

After a sub-par beginning to their season, the Men's Basketball team looked to right ship. Entering the month they were sitting at 6-9 after a tough non-conference schedule. Sophomore Louis Williams (Burlington, VT) returned to the team and along with Senior Brandon Hamilton (Sarasota, FL) led the Men's team to an 8-0 undefeated month. All 8 victories came against Sunrise Conference opponents, including a very impressive three game streak which saw the Men's team score 100+ points in each game.

February

After losing their first conference game, at home versus Maine-Fort Kent, the Men's basketball team rolled off 5 straight wins en route to clinching their first ever Sunrise Conference Regular Season title. As the number one seed in the Sunrise Conference Tournament, the Men's team beat the College of Saint Joseph's 97-80. Both Hamilton and Williams were named to the All Conference First team.

Senior Jessica DiCicco (Arlington, MA) recorded 4 double-doubles as the Fisher Women's Basketball team won 4 games and secured a spot in the conference tournament. They would eventually lose to Sunrise Conference Champion, Maine-Fort Kent in the semi finals. DiCicco was named to the All Conference First Team and Head Coach Troy Smith was named the Sunrise Conference Coach of the Year.

Both Baseball and Softball began their seasons in the month of Feburary. Baseball traveled down to the University of South Carolina at Beaufort, while the Softball team went to Savannah State in Georgia. Baseball would battle hard in all four games. They captured victory in game three as Senior Jarlin Gomez (Lawrence, MA) pitched 6 strong innings and sophomore Mark Dorso (Waterbury, CT) came in a stopped a USCB rally in the 7th for the save.

March

The Men's Basketball team faced off against rival Maine-Fort Kent in the Sunrise Conference Tournament Championship Game. After a hard fought back and fourth battle, Fisher came out on top and won their 4th tournament championship in 5 years. The victory secured the team a trip to Branson, MO for the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball tournament. They were paired up against the number one seed Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Fisher would battle hard despite being short handed and was only down by 9 at halftime. OKU would go on to win the game and eventually the tournament. The Fisher Men's Basketball team accomplished many first's in the season as they won more than 20 games for the first time in school history and also took home their first Regular Season title.

Baseball took its annual spring trip south, this time to Texas for the second consecutive year. Playing against tough competition, the Baseball team notched two wins against host University of Texas at Brownsville and also beat Valley City State University. When the team came back north, they rattled off six straight wins to finish off the month.

The Softball team made its spring trip to Cocoa Beach, FL where they would face some of the best competition during its 2009 season. Even though they didn't win a game, they learned how to battle and won 3 of their 5 games to close out the month.

April

Senior Tom Englehardt (Bradford, MA) and junior Edwin Pena (Union City, NJ) helped the Baseball team to two separate win streaks of 6+ games. With 17 wins in the month of April, the Baseball team took home its fifth straight Sunrise Conference Regular Season title and Sunrise Conference Tournament title. Englehardt was named Sunrise Conference Baseball Player of the Year (his third straight) and Head Coach Scott Dulin was named Sunrise Conference Baseball Coach of the Year. Senior Eddy Delcarmen (Boston, MA), junior Samuel Luciano (Union City, NJ), junior Patrick Shanahan (Haverhill, MA), junior Zack Thompson (Salem, MA), sophomore Kevin Ryan (Cheshire, CT), along with Englehardt and Pena were named to the All Conference Team.

Led by junior Jackie Streeter (Westminster, MA), the Softball team would win five more games and face off against the University of Maine at Presque Isle in the Sunrise Conference Championship Series. In game one, Fisher dropped a heart breaker as they lost 10-9. UMPI would come out and win game two, ending the Softball season. Softball won 11 games, the first time in program history that its won more than 10 games. Also, Streeter finished with the highest batting average in the country (.577) and the highest slugging percentage in the country (.992). She also belted 10 home runs to lead the team and conference.

May

After winning their fifth straight Conference title, the Baseball team traveled to Greensburg, PA to play a three game series against KIAC Champion Brescia University. The winner advances to the National Regional Tournament. In game one, Shanahan dominated as he threw a complete game shutout. He allowed just 6 hits over the 9 innings. Offensively, Englehardt crushed a solo home run and scored all three runs as Fisher won 3-0 and took a 1-0 advantage in the series. Brescia would force a decisive game three as they took game two by a 8-1 score. Down 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth, with two men on base, Pena stepped up to the plate with two outs. He hit a deep fly to left field, which was caught on the warning track and the hard fought 2009 season came to an end. Englehardt was named as a NAIA All American Honorable Mention.

June

More success came from the Baseball team as Edwin Pena received an invitation to attend a tryout with the New York Yankees at the brand new New Yankee Stadium.

July

Baseball Pitcher Patrick Shanahan was selected to pitch for the Sag Harbor Whalers in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.

August

Anthony Perry (Andover, MA), a former Fisher Baseball legend, had a career day for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Against the Newark Bears on August 21st, Perry went 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored. He also played error less defense at first base as the Blue Crabs went on to win the game.

September

As the new school year began, so did a new chapter in Fisher Soccer. New Head Coach Ed Devereaux brought in a good recruiting class and they showed promise as they beat Sunrise Conference rival Paul Smiths College, 4-3, and then tied fellow conference opponent SUNY-Canton, 2-2. With a tough non-conference schedule, Fisher dropped its final 4 matches in the month.

October

Fisher Men's Soccer would win its 2nd game of the season, tying a program high, with an incredible last second win against College of Saint Joseph's, 2-1. With the game tied at 1, Fisher sent a cross toward the CSJ net. The ball bounced of a CSJ defender's leg and found the back of the net in the 89th minute.

November

To begin the month, the Fisher Basketball teams competed in the Hesser College Tournament. The Men's team took home the tournament title as they beat both Hesser College in the semis and Northern Maine CC in the finals. The women's team would fall to Briarcliffe College in the semis and then beat Hampshire College in the consolation.

On the 15th, Fisher Athletics celebrated its annual Fundraiser event. With the help of Major League Pitcher and World Series Champion Manny Delcarmen, Fisher Athletics held a triathlon at the Cottage Park Yacht Club in Winthrop, MA. This was not your normal triathlon, we substituted running, swimming and biking with bowling, darts and billiards. There was also the Manny Bowl in which contestants got a chance to bowl agianst Manny Delcarmen. To cap off the day, five former student-athletes were inducted into the Fisher College Athletics Hall of Fame. Those five inductees are Joey Eugenio '07, Kyle Van Offeran '07, Patrick Holland '07, and Marisa and Katilyn O'Leary '07.

Over the weekend of the 20th and 21st, the Fisher Men's Basketball team competed in the Roger Williams Tournament. In the opening game, Fisher fell just short of beating Trinity College . In the consolation game, the Men came out victorious over Lesley University. The Men closed out the month with a win over Nichols College.

December

The Men's Basketball team continued its winning ways, but it was not easy. They would win their first four games to start the month. In the Harold J. Brodie Tournament at Rochester Institute of Technology, Fisher was matched up against the host school. With 15 minutes left in the second half, the Men's Basketball team found themselves trailing by 22 points. Fisher would dig deep and go on an amazing 30 to 7 run to close the game and win 69-68. In the championship game, Fisher beat Fredonia State and was named Champions. They would go on to win their next game, at home versus MCLA, and end the first half of their season at 11-1. The best start in program history.

The women's team ended their first half of the season with an impressive win over Hesser College. Junior Tiffany Beckman (East Hartford, CT) scored 22 points in the victory.

With all that happened in 2009, Fisher College Athletics looks forward to a better and more successful 2010. We hope that you and your families have a safe and wonderful New Year and we hope to see you in 2010!

Fisher Women capture 2nd win!

Beckman's 22 points helps pace the Fisher offense

#15 Tiffany Beckman

Roxbury, MA - The Fisher College Women's Basketball team returned to its winning ways as they beat future Sunrise Conference opponent Hesser College, 58-46. Junior Tiffany Beckman (East Hartford, CT) continued to dazzle the home crowd as she scored a team high 22 points on the night. Also providing some big offensive help were a pair of seniors. Both Jackie Streeter (Westminster, MA) and Leslie Wadhams (Burlington, VT) recorded double-doubles each, Streeter had 15 points, 11 rebounds and Wadhams had 14 points, 17 rebounds.

Fisher jumped out to an early lead to begin the game. Led by Beckman, they went on a 9-0 run to start and eventually got out to a 13 point lead half way through the opening frame. Hesser (4-9) would battle back as Quintina Young's (Junior from Portland, ME) layup tied the game at 23 with 4 minutes to play. The game would be tied up again at 26 until Wadham's field goal put Fisher up by 2 heading into halftime. For the 1st half, the shooting was about even with Fisher shooting at a 35.5% clip and Hesser at a 31.3% clip from the floor.

The second began as a low scoring affair as neither team could find its way to the basket. It wasn't until there were 7 minutes left when the action started up. At this point Fisher quietly pushed its lead to 10 points and Streeter's second three pointer of the season at 5:24 sealed the deal and gave Fisher a 13 point lead. Hesser would make it as close as 8 points but Fisher was just to strong in the end.

For Hesser College, junior Chrissi Zissi (Hudson, NH) led the Lady Blue Devils with 12 points and sophomore Whitney Hanks (Somersworth, NH) added 10 points. Young also pulled down 11 rebounds on the night.

Recently named Sunrise Conference Rookie of the Week, Darniesha Ruffin (Stoughton, MA) chipped in with 4 points to go along with her stellar defense. Senior Kianesha Dennis (Lynn, MA) also played well defensively as she recorded 5 steals in the game.

"It was a great team win," said Beckman. "we came back home (their previous 6 games were on the road) and got into a rhythm quickly. I had a good night but the big stars tonight are Jackie and Les (Streeter and Wadhams). They played tremendous. It feels good to get a win, but now we got to focus on Briarcliffe."

With the win, Fisher improves their overall record to 2-11. The women will return to action this Saturday afternoon when Briarcliffe College visits Madison Park Community Center. Game time is set for 12pm. In their previous battle earlier this season, Briarcliffe edged Fisher by a score of 62-58 in the opening round of the Hesser College Tournament.

Fisher Men roll to their 9th straight win

Hammond's 27 points helps Fisher improve to 11-1

#5 Christaan Hammond

Roxbury, MA - Off to their best start in school history, the Fisher College Men's Basketball team beat the visiting Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, tonight by a score of 85-71. Junior Christaan Hammond (Seattle, WA) led the team with 27 points. Classmate Louis Williams (Burlington, VT) chipped in 16 points in the winning effort.

The game was close through the first 10 minutes of action, as Fisher held a slim 1 point lead at the 8:56 mark in the first half. Fisher then went on a 22 to 10 run to close out the half and take a 13 point lead into the locker room. For the half, Fisher shot 42.1% from the floor compared to MCLA's 40%.

In the second half, Fisher would expand its lead to 26 points behind Hammond who scored 11 of his 27 in the half. MCLA would make it close as they chipped away and brought its deficit to 14 when the final buzzer sounded.

This is Fisher's 11th win in 12 games and they will ride a 9 game winning streak into the holiday break. The Men's team will return to action on January 8th, 2010 at Madison Park Community Center. Tip off is scheduled for 5pm as they will take on Cooper Union College in game two of a womens/mens double header.