KEY CONTRIBUTOR: Joey Falcone — who served three overseas military tours and threw out the first pitch during the Yankees-Mets game at Citi Field Monday (above) — and Ivy League champion Columbia enter tonight’s NCAA Tournament with 29 victories. (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
On March 20, Columbia was 2-11. Head coach Bret Boretti didn’t hold a team meeting. He didn’t begin extending practice or order extra batting practice.
In fact, the successful eighth-year coach was pleased with the Lions’ performance, considering the setbacks came against established winners Lamar, Central Florida, Arizona and Miami, warm-weather foes who had been practicing for weeks under the sun while Columbia was dealing with the cold and finding spaces to practice.
“I don’t get too concerned about wins and losses; it’s about playing well and being consistent with what we’re trying to do,” Boretti said. “I thought we were doing really good things. It happens pretty frequently for us to come from our [early-season] trips with a losing record. We use that time to evaluate and get better.”
It is that brutally tough early stretch Columbia points to as the impetus for its run to the Ivy League title. Sure, the Lions were losing, but they weren’t getting blown out, run off the field. One of their two wins came against defending champion Arizona, and they lost the other two games in the series by a combined three runs. Of the other nine losses, three came by three runs or less.
“It really gives us an advantage, getting to play those teams,” right-hander Kevin Roy said. “It gives us a lot of confidence. It really prepared us for everything that will come down the road.
“To me, it wasn’t about wins or losses. We’re here to win an Ivy League championship. The experience going down there in those big environments is more important than getting a win or loss.”
Under Boretti, the Lions have become an Ivy League power, winning the Lou Gehrig Division three times, and reaching the NCAA Tournament twice, this spring and in 2008. They notched a program-record 16 conference wins this season, and enter tonight’s action in the NCAA Tournament Fullerton, Calif., Regional with 29 wins, another Columbia best, and seven straight wins.
In his third season, Boretti began testing his players with a brutal non-league schedule. He felt it was best to play the nation’s elite, so if his team did reach the postseason, it would be prepared for anything. Next year, he has scheduled Texas, Texas A&M and South Florida.
“That type of experience allows you to learn and get better,” Boretti said. “If you schedule 15 cupcakes, you’re not facing much adversity, and I think adversity is a positive.”
Boretti also said he felt it could help recruiting. Columbia scours the country every summer for talented players who fit its mold, on the field and in the classroom, and a selling point has become the type of competition the Lions face.
Roy, one of three players from Texas, said it drew him to the program. The team, built on its sterling pitching staff — which boasts an overall ERA of 3.52 led by ace southpaw David Speer — and a speedy lineup that takes the extra base at every opportunity and led the Ivy League with 77 stolen bases, includes five players from Florida and has student-athletes from 10 other states. The lineup is led by first baseman Alex Black, a first-team All-Ivy League selection who led the league with seven home runs, and outfielder Joey Falcone, a 26-year-old war hero who emerged late in the year in the cleanup spot.
“It’s about trying to find some of those kids who are smart and maybe have that interest in coming to the East Coast and going to an Ivy League school,” Boretti said. “When we get them on campus, it sells itself. Columbia and New York City is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Columbia finds itself in one of the toughest of the 16 regionals. Top seed Cal State Fullerton is the fifth seed overall, and No. 2 Arizona State and No. 3 New Mexico are both ranked in the top 20 nationwide.
Basically, it’s Columbia’s early-season schedule all over again. Except, of course, this team has been through that gauntlet already, and unlike that slate, the Lions aren’t just stepping on the diamond.
They feel they’re ready for anything.
“We’re going to go out there and play our baseball — Columbia baseball,” Roy, a hard-throwing reliever, said. “We can play with the big dogs. Nothing fazes us. We’re on a mission.”