Doomed Duquesne baseball players get treat
The final home game in the 67-year history of Duquesne University baseball ended with a whimper Sunday in an 8-3 loss to Temple at Green Tree Park.
Next stop for the doomed Dukes: Yankee Stadium.
The Dukes will visit the Bronx on Wednesday in advance of their three-game, season-ending series at Fordham.
Susan Pelekanos, mother of Duquesne sophomore relief pitcher Mike Pelekanos, helped make it possible when she wrote a letter to the Yankees. In it, she detailed how the university administration had decided to cancel the program and wondered if the Yankees could do anything to help soothe the players' pain.
The Yankees responded by offering to sell the team $50 tickets for $25 each, and the team bought 37 of them. Yankees officials said they will recognize the team on the scoreboard during the game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"It's sad," said Susan, still baffled by Duquesne's decision to eliminate baseball and men's swimming, wrestling and golf in an effort to strengthen remaining programs. "We just want to know, how do you end a Division I program?
"We thought baseball was the All-American sport."
Coach Mike Wilson shed no tears over the end of his Duquesne career, despite holding (along with Rich Spear) the school record for career victories (344).
"I am kind of relieved," he said. "I have been beating my head against the wall for 17 years."
Wilson, who has only one full-time and one part-time assistant, said he performs all field maintenance with his team.
"I spend more time preparing the field for games than I do preparing the players for games," he said.
The Dukes (15-38, 9-15 in the Atlantic 10) were prepared well enough to win five in a row last week, including a 10-9 victory against nationally ranked Pitt.
The season, however, has been one losing stretch after another (0-7 to start, followed by 3-12, before losing 17 of 21). Still, three players have made commitments to Division I programs and will be able to play immediately next season.
They include sophomore catcher Rick Devereaux of West Allegheny (Pitt), freshman pitcher Robert Corsi of Oceanport, N.J. (Rutgers) and sophomore relief pitcher Jim Devine of Central Catholic (Temple). Sophomore pitcher/infielder Joe Lombardo of Shaler also is considering Division I schools while sophomore catcher Anthony DeFabio of Plum and sophomore outfielder Matt Carson of Bethel Park hope to walk on at Pitt, Wilson said.
In addition, pitcher/center fielder Andy Heck of North Hills is contemplating offers from North Carolina-Wilmington, Kent State, Cincinnati and Ohio State.
Heck was 4 for 5 on Sunday, with his 10th home run, school single-season record 23rd double and two singles. He raised his batting average to .408 and remained tied with Mark Tracy for the team RBI lead (45).
It was Heck who stood up in a team meeting this winter and challenged his teammates to be great after administrators had swung the axe.
"I told them, 'Screw it. Let's win the whole damn thing,'" Heck said. "Let's throw it back in their faces. A thanks-for-nothing kind of thing."
The season didn't work out that way, but pitcher/first baseman Mike Pelekanos, a sophomore pre-med student from Franklin Regional, is happy about this: The end of baseball allowed him to cancel Tommy John surgery.
"There are a lot of good memories," he said, "but there is a time for everything to end."
