How Lombardi came to pick Le Moyne
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- October
- 3
I just talked to Briarcliff’s Joe Lombardi a little while ago and he confirmed that he’s headed to Le Moyne to play baseball.
I find Lombardi’s case fascinating. He’s a guy who had a lot of different options to consider. He was originally known as a freshman who started at 1B for Briarcliff, but a lot has changed since then.
Last winter, Lombardi, who’s about 6-foot-4 and lefty, became the leading scorer as the Bears upset preseason favorite Woodlands for the Class B title. He also started pitching a little bit for Briarcliff during the baseball season, and had success pitching this summer for the New York Nine in limited time on the mound.
Joe told me he chose to play baseball because it was his best option. He knew he had great size for baseball but that his size was only average for basketball.
Also, he’ll head to Le Moyne with a chance to earn the starting 1B job as a freshman and with the understanding the coaching staff wants a look at him as a pitcher. That  and the fact that they he believes Le Moyne has stronger academics than Albany and Iona, the other two Division I schools who offered him baseball scholarships  led him to Syracuse.
(Note to hoops junkies: Le Moyne has a D-II basketball team, so Lombardi will at least explore the possibility of playing both.)
If anyone else has any signings they’d like me to know about, please feel free to drop me a line at jthomson@lohud.com.
The more the merrier…
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on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 4:04 pm by Josh Thomson.
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in
March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of
2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has
since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting,
Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his
fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning
fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and
insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh
graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University,
where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in
history. 
Jake Thomases has covered baseball, hockey, girls basketball, and girls soccer for the Journal News since arriving in 2003. He previously interned at The Poughkeepsie Journal while attending Vassar College. He is socking money away under his mattress to buy the Knicks, at which time he will trade Jerome James to Cleveland for a ham sandwich.
LeMoyne will also be D2 in baseball having been expelled from the MAAC earlier this year.
College BB Fan,
Thats why your a fan…Le Moyne has petitioned 6 D1 conferences for admission. They were expelled from the MAAC because they dominated it ! The MAAC felt that LeMoyne had an unfair advantage funneling alot of resources to Baseball. They will remain “Independent” before they will go D2 or possibly start a conference of their own along with several other Independent D1 programs.
You can check their Website for 2008 and 2009 scheduling…
your Welcome !
Checked this. Baseball notes is right…Le Moyne will be in the MAAC (sort of) for 2008 as it explores its options.
It wasn’t meant in a negative manner. The problem was based on the fact that the only D1 sport at the schools was baseball and YES they have been good. The MAAC wanted additional sport participation (D1) and LeMoyne could not give it. Fact is they have petitioned a few conferences, A10, America East and the D2 NE 10 where it looks they could end up.
They will play their 2008 MAAC schedule but none of their conference stats will count nor can they participate in the conference tournament. Very unfair to the student athletes.
http://www.lemoyne.edu/alumni/magazine/on_the_heights.html
Baseball notes, I am a big college baseball fan. Thank You. And you are ? Where is your specialty (knowledge)? You have a lot of information and insight.
College BB Fan,
I have followed Westchester (Section 1) sports for 30+ years. Baseball, Football and Basketball. I played two sports in College and Know many Coaches personally at the HS and College level. My main Interest is that Athletes get recognized for the abilities on the field AND IN THE CLASSROOM ! And I hate it when somebody grinds an AXE at the expense of a kid !
I hope that one of these other conferences, America East or A-10 takes LeMoyne in. That would be an addition of a quality (baseball)program to decent conferences. The way the MAAC handled the situation was not good especially for the players.
It’s good to see that LeMoyne is still attracting top quality recruits, now hopefully the school can do something to right a wrong.
Baseball News, I like your thinking, however, if you look at the list of independents, there is only NY Tech and NJ Tech in this area. South Dakota, Dallas Baptist, Utah, North Dakota, Taxas PA, Hawaii, Chicago State would really cause havok trying to form a league. If LaMoyne chose to take the independant route, they could set their own schedule and based on their record, RPI index, and SOS could garner an at large bid to the tournament. I believe this is a tougher route then winning a conference tournament.
PS: what college did you play at? Thanks for all the info
BTW,
Congratulations to Joe Lombardi choosing LaMoyne and for making his decision and opting for baseball. Good luck to him and to the Kalacka boy from Ketcham.
LaMoyne was a great fit for former Bear Bobby Blevins and hopefully Joe will have the same success.
Two fine young men from great families who both deserve congratulations! I’m sure they will both be very successful both on the baseball field and in the classroom.
Another couple of westcheter dudes taking their act to college…awesome stuff…keep it up!
Congratulations to Joe and Kyle. Joe was one of my best friends on the summer team this year and I am very happy for him. I hope all the best for him, and with his work ethic and his talent I think he is going to be very succesful. Ive been Kyle’s teammate for almost 3 years now, and I can say, that Kyle is without a doubt the best teammate that anybody can ask for. There is nobody I know who is more worthy than a baseball scholership than Kyle…He will succeed at LeMoyne and I look forward to hearing about it
ALEX MARURI… I LOVE YOU… OHHHHHHHHHH
Alex you beat me to it…
Congrats to Joey and Kyle. Joey has been a great teammate the entire summer and will definitely enjoy success at the next level. He is a great guy and a hard worker. I have been throwing to Kyle for several summers now and can’t say anything bad about him. He is one of if not the best target I’ve ever thrown to. LeMoyne is very lucky to get both of these guys as they will both be a great addition to the program.
Good luck to both you guys and everyone else from the LoHud area that has committed thus far. And for those who haven’t, I wish you the best of luck in finding the best place for you.