The 38th annual Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, Nov. 12. Eight individuals and two teams will be honored, bringing the total number of inductees to 253. Every day leading up to the induction, a different member of the Class of 2016 will be profiled on GoJaspers.com.
2006 Baseball Team
Sponsored by George Skau '59 & Peter Sweeney '64
In the long history of Manhattan College athletics, few teams are as celebrated as the 2006 baseball squad. That season, the Jaspers won the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship in program history and made Manhattan's first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly 50 years—where they won two games, including a victory over future New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain and sixth-ranked Nebraska.
Led by MAAC and Northeast Regional Coach of the Year Kevin Leighton, the Jaspers ended up with a 34-23 record, the most wins in program history. Manhattan also set records for runs scored (354), doubles (96), home runs (44), stolen bases (100), ERA (4.03) and strikeouts (406).
The opening game of the season proved a harbinger of things to come. Taking on No. 15 Tulane, Chris Cody tossed a complete game shutout, striking out 10 in the 1-0 victory. Manhattan would go on to notch a 12-12 record against a competitive non-conference slate before finishing second in the MAAC with a 17-9 league mark.
After taking two out of three on the road against perennial MAAC power LeMoyne, Manhattan needed to win the final series of the regular season at Canisius to make the MAAC Tournament. The Jaspers and Griffs split the doubleheader, but Manhattan scored 24 runs in the rubber game to take the series and clinch a playoff spot. Jesse Darcy tossed a 5-0 shutout against Rider in the first game of the MAAC Tournament before Cody struck out 12 in a 3-2 victory over LeMoyne that moved the Jaspers into the championship round. Manhattan then beat LeMoyne again, 7-3, to secure its first-ever MAAC title.
Manhattan was sent to Lincoln, Neb., for the NCAA Tournament and drew the host Cornhuskers, the No. 6 national seed, in the first game. Cody got the start for the Jaspers and went toe-to-toe with Joba Chamberlain in front of more than 8,000 fans. On the strength of back-to-back home runs by Matt Rizzotti and John Fitzpatrick and Cody's complete game, Manhattan pulled off the upset, 4-1. After losing to Miami in the next game, the Jaspers posted a 6-4 win over San Francisco to move into the regional final, where they fell to Miami again, ending one of the most memorable seasons in program history.
Cody and John Fitzpatrick both earned All-America status. Cody went 12-2 with nine complete games, 105 strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA, while Fitzpatrick crushed 18 home runs and tallied 66 RBIs. Matt Rizzotti, meanwhile, hit .340. Cody, Fitzpatrick and Nick Derba were all named to both the All-MAAC First Team and MAAC All-Tournament Team, where they were joined by Dom Lombardi and MAAC Tournament MVP Eric Nieto.
Several members of the team moved on to professional baseball careers, and many are likely to be inducted as individuals in the near future. But first, the entire squad gets its due—Mike Garcia, Matt Springer, Rene Ruiz, Pat Reynolds, Ryan Marcoux, John Reynolds, Dom Lombardi, Matt Nevins, Kyle Wirtz, John Fitzpatrick, Ruben Perez, Joe Franzese, Jeremy Shaw, Joe Culen, Brian Fulcher, Nick Derba, Chris Cody, Ryan Masters, Eric Nieto, Jesse Darcy, Nunzio Franzese, Matt Rizzotti, Joe Fitzpatrick, Rene Guera, Mike Gazzola, Erik Lucas, Josh Santerre, Marc Giordano, Brian Searls, Jourdain Dutton, Angel Aponte, Assistant Coach Ryan Darcy, Assistant Coach Mike Cole, and Head Coach Kevin Leighton.
