Columbia Baseball Turns in Best Season of the Decade

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 decided by two runs or less; the Cougars were 7-3 in those games and 3-2 in matches decided by just a run.

In the seventh inning or later of games in which the Cougars entered the inning trailing or tied, Columbia scored 21 runs—accounting for nearly 10 percent of their offense. That's not even including sixth-inning heroics against West Essex in the Greater Newark Tournament final or against Phillipsburg in the opening round of the state playoffs. In both cases, Columbia rallied from four or more runs down to tie the contest in the sixth.

They went on to lose those two matches, but their season should not be defined by what they could've done, but by what they did. Here are some highlights from the season:

Game 2: Columbia at Seton Hall Prep: The Cougars entered the early April contest with just two wins in the last decade against the state powerhouse. They went down 10-0 in the first inning, rallied for 12 runs in the second frame, gave up the lead in the third, and scored five in the sixth to escape West Orange with an 18-17 win, setting the tone for this season.

Game 3: Columbia vs. Bloomfield: Two days later, in their home-opener, the Cougar boys found themselves down 8-5 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, after coughing up a 5-1 fourth-inning lead. Henry Ertl started the rally with a one-out base hit, Joe Meola came up with a single two batters later and Armand Spears drew a walk to load the bases for Andrew Rigassio. The team co-captain drilled a walk-off grand slam to give Columbia a 9-8 win.

Game 8: Columbia at Roxbury: The Cougars were locked in a 1-1 game in the eighth inning. Robert Buchner had pitched two innings of scoreless relief and knocked home two runs with a double, one of his 17 this season, which led the team.

Game 9: Columbia at East Side: Normally a game against East Side isn't too noteworthy, but this was Jimmy Murphy's first start on the varsity level. He struck out nine, walked two and gave up a run and a hit. It was the first in a series of great starts for the sophomore who became the ace of the staff. Murphy ended with four wins and a 1.35 ERA.

Game 14: Rd. 1 GNT vs. Cedar Grove: Columbia outlasted the Panthers in this three-hour slugfest, 17-13. Tamayo, Joel Brown-Christenson, Rigassio and Meola each drove in three runs to propel the Cougars past a dangerous Cedar Grove team.

Game 17: GNT Quarterfinals vs. MKA: With Montclair Kimberley Academy clinging to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning at The Hill, MKA elected to intentionally walk Rigassio, loading the bases for Tamayo. Columbia's catcher and No. 4 hitter made the visitors pay, rocketing a grand slam to give the Cougars the lead for good. It was also another great start for Murphy, who threw his third straight complete game.

Game 19: GNT semis vs. Montclair in Verona: This game was a microcosm of what had defined this year's Cougar team. They hadn't been able to do anything against Montclair's pitcher through the first five innings. They scratched off two in the sixth, and then Rony Jean-Mary's 0-2 hit heard round the county—when he fought off a curveball into shallow center—gave Columbia the lead. But Montclair fought back to tie it in the bottom half of the seventh, forcing extra innings. In the eighth, Matt McGriff, Eli Weiss and Meola each reached with bunt singles. A busted Montclair play allowed McGriff to score on Meola's bunt, and Spears put the game away with a two-run double.

Game 23: GNT finals vs. West Essex: Once again Columbia fell behind early, only to rally with four runs in the sixth. West Essex ended Columbia's run in the bottom of the seventh, 5-4. "We're extremely proud," Columbia head coach Lorenzo Busichio said. "Whenever you can make the semis of the GNT, anything can happen." One game later, they rallied for six in the sixth to tie, but were eventually knocked out by Phillipsburg in the first round of states. "It was a little difficult losing in the state tourney to Phillipsburg in the first round," Busichio said. "We went from the GNT final to the first round of the playoffs. It was just very difficult to have the kids come back and play in the state tournament after losing in the GNT final two days earlier."

Game 25: Last game at Underhill this season, vs. Livingston: This is mainly significant because Andrew Rigassio may have solidified his name as one of the first Underhill legends, going yard twice, extending his team-leading total. He finished with an astounding 12 home runs, and a bonkers .932 slugging percentage to go along with a .536 on-base percentage. He batted .420 and drove in 35 runs.

Coach Busichio has called this team the best he has ever coached, though they may not have been his most talented. They just never gave up and never thought they were out of the game.

"In my time at Columbia it's the best team that I've coached," Busichio said. "Stephen Tamayo and Andrew Rigassio are two of the best hitters I've ever coached. … We just had a knack for winning games even when we were down."

Trying to put into words what they will lose to graduation is like trying to describe the devastation of a natural disaster. The Cougars are losing practically their entire offense, their closer and two starting pitchers.

Tamayo (who led the team with 36 RBI), Buchner, Rigassio, Weiss (.342 batting average), Brown-Christenson, Spears and Meola (.390 batting average) combined for 29 of the team's 30 homers, 174 of 196 RBI, 180 of 228 runs and 57 of 61 doubles. They had a total batting average of .339 between the seven of them.

Aside from the offense, the entire defensive infield will have to be replaced. Tamayo was second team All-SEC along with Weiss, Rigassio was first team and Buchner received an honorable mention. They'll also be losing speed in centerfield and at the top of the lineup in second team All-SEC Meola.

"This group has played together since they were probably in the fourth grade," Busichio said. "They were 11 of them, so it was a tight-knit group."

The one bright spot for the returning Cougars is the strength at the top of the pitching rotation, with Murphy and Nigel Hunter. The sophomore duo teamed up to go 9-1 this season. Murphy struck out 38 batters in 36.1 innings, while Hunter fanned 28 in 31.1.

After hitting 53 home runs over the last two seasons, the Cougars will likely revert to being a small-ball team, with its main power coming from Jean-Mary and McGriff. But in the tough American Division, next spring's team will have a tough road trying to win and learn at the same time.

"Next year will be more challenging in the sense that you will have to do some things to score runs," Busichio said.