The year of the unprecedented for the Hofstra baseball team reached its pinnacle on Sunday as the Pride captured their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship, defeating Northeastern University 7-6 in the most appropriate way possible, with their ninth walk-off win of the season. 

“It’s awesome,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “I don’t know what words to say. I’m so proud of these guys, they’ve been fighting all year long. It’s just a real special group, and they deserve it.” 

With the game tied at six in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and two out, the 1-0 pitch from Northeastern’s Thomas Balboni hit Hofstra third baseman Ryan Morash in the back to force across the game-winning run. The win only solidifies the never say die attitude that the Pride have carried all season since being projected to finish last in the CAA in a pre-season coaches poll. 

“The coaches gave us the belief that we could do this when no one thought we could,” said Hofstra starting pitcher Brad Camarda. “They told us in the fall, ‘You guys can do this. Believe in yourselves and believe in each other.’ It’s just an amazing moment.” 

Camarda threw 118 pitches across seven innings, giving up four runs on seven hits with five walks and four strikeouts after pitching an inning of relief in Hofstra’s game on Saturday. For his efforts, the senior right-hander was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. 

“Amazing, it really is,” Catalanotto said of Camarda’s performance. “It shows that he has a lot of heart, and he wanted to do it for this group, this team. I know he was very emotional after the game. Most likely, he’s not going to be back. It’s a great way to go out for him.”

Camarda was also named to the all-tournament team along with teammates Mark Faello, Brian Morrell, Santino Rosso and Will Kennedy. 

Anthony D’Onofrio and Kennedy each took Northeastern starter Wyatt Scotti deep for a pair of back-to-back solo home runs to lead off the bottom of the first for the Pride. Scotti failed to make it out of the opening frame. After he conceded another run, the Huskies called on Jake Gigliotti to stop the bleeding out of the bullpen. The contest quickly became a pitcher’s duel between Gigliotti and Camarda as neither surrendered a run for the next several innings. 

Northeastern finally cracked Camarda’s code in the top of the fifth when they put three runs on the board. The Pride reclaimed the lead entering the top of the ninth, only for the Huskies to tie the game once again. Even still, Hofstra’s season-long mantra never wavered.

“It’s just been about continuing to fight and never giving up,” Catalanotto said. “Whenever we’re in the dugout, we feel like we have a chance to win the game. These guys never give up. Sometimes, when you lose the lead like that it can deflate a team. Not us. We stay up, and we were able to come back every single time.”

Now with their first conference championship in hand, Hofstra continues their once unthinkable season in the NCAA Baseball National Tournament. The Pride’s road to Omaha begins on Friday, June 3, against the No. 10 University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the Chapel Hill Regional. Three years ago, Catalanotto took his previous team, the New York Institute of Technology, to the Division II College World Series in his first season with the Bears, and will look to go on a similar run this season with Hofstra after leading them to their best season in a decade.

“Myself and my coaching staff, we changed the culture,” Catalanotto said. “We set a high standard. We didn’t turn our heads and look the other way when things were bad on the field. We addressed everything, and that’s the way I feel like it has to be. If you stick with it, you can be a good team. We feel like we have players that were able to make the adjustments that we were telling them about. It’s a special thing when you have a group of guys like that.” 

Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Abbey Lipcsik