Six Indians Ink Pro Contracts

The Rome Indians Baseball Organization is proud to announce that six members of its 2001 championship baseball team have signed professional contracts. These individuals all played significant roles in the team's championship season. We are very proud to have had these individuals as part of our organization because they were not only fine athletes but outstanding individuals that represented their colleges and families very well.

Indians Finish 2002 with 18-22 Record
Team Endures Typical Highs and Lows

by Scott Montesano
Rome Indians Marketing Intern

(Utica-Rome, NY) This year’s version of the Rome Indians certainly have their share of memories to take back home.

There was the rough season-opening road trip, numerous rainouts, six-game winning streak, and gratifying season series win over local rival Mohawk Valley.

It all resulted in an 18-22 record and a third place finish in the New York Collegiate Baseball League Eastern Division.

The 2002 Indian’s season didn’t end as triumphantly as their predecessors a year earlier. Nevertheless, while the team didn’t accomplish the ultimate goal of defending the NYCBL crown, there still were plenty of memories.

The Indians season started with a 7-2 win in Watertown on June 7. Unfortunately, the victory was the only one in a season-opening five game road trip that saw the Indians be plagued by bad bounces in Hornell and tough opposing pitching in Geneva.

An 8-3 blowout victory over Mohawk Valley in the home opener on June 11th raised Rome’s record to 2-4.

Interestingly, this turned out to be the Indians’ last game before an unplanned seven-day layoff.

Unyielding rain and poor field conditions caused the Indians to remain off the field until June 18th. While the Indians were slow to recover from the layoff –losing the first three games back- Rome quickly turned it around and went on a tear.

The Indians held on for a 3-2 win at Mohawk Valley on June 21, in what would be the start of the teams’ hottest stretch of the season.

Between June 21 and July 5, the Indians went 11-2. A six-game winning streak from June 29-July 3 was also included.

Nevertheless, the Indians good fortunes would turn sour from there. Over the next ten days, Rome routinely ran into their opponents’ ace starter and had every miniscule mistake comeback to hurt them.

The Indians lost eight of ten games and dropped 5.5 games out of the playoff race.

Still, the Indians entered the final week of the season with an outside shot of making the playoffs, and answered the challenge with a gutsy 5-0 win at Watertown on July 15.

The victory, and a pair of Mohawk Valley losses brought Rome to only 4.0 out of the playoffs. With a day off on July 16, a chance to rest the pitching staff, and a favorable schedule the Indians last dash playoff push seemed achievable.

Still, the playoffs simply weren’t in the cards for this group of “never say die” ballplayers.

After defeating Plattsburgh in the first game of a doubleheader on July 17, the Indians playoffs hopes were dashed by a miraculous rally in game two. Rome watched as Plattsburgh stormed back from a 9-3 deficit to win 14-13 in 11 innings.

The Indians were officially eliminated the next day when a loss to Watertown was coupled with a Mohawk Valley victory.

While the playoff plans were ended prematurely, the Indians that took to the field for the final weekend had no intentions of “playing out the string.”

Due to injuries, Rome’s roster had been whittled down to around half the original size once the final weekend came around.

Nonetheless, the remaining Indians went out in style in their final game against Mohawk Valley on July 21 at Larry DeLutis Field.

Rome overcame a one-run deficit in the ninth and then scored the winning run in the tenth to defeat their rivals 4-3.

The victory gave the Indians a 5-3 series win over their nemesis from Little Falls, and some redemption from the team that beat them for the coveted playoff spot.

Once the final games had been played the Indians finished 7.0 games out of the playoffs, and sixth overall in the 12 team NYCBL.

This definitely was not what the Indians envisioned in early June, but by no means was the season a failure. In fact, there were many positives.

While winning is a goal at this level, it is takes a backseat to developing future professional players. A simple look at the Indians statistics virtually all the players showed steady improvement over the season.

Southern Illinois outfielder, Cory Newman hit .287 and had nine RBIs. Newman didn’t join the team until late June, but started every game once he arrived in Rome.

LeMoyne outfielder Jeff Justice had the most impressive turnaround. After spending the first couple of weeks of the season with a batting average below .100, Justice became of one the most consistent hitters in the league, finishing at .238.

Kyle Barrett, from George Mason, was another player who struggled early only to see his average raise to .232 by season’s end.

In fact, a vast majority of the Indians saw their average jump once they became accustomed to the wood-bat.

On the base paths, University of Indianapolis product Jeremy O’Neill finished with 26 stolen bases. Heading into the final weekend he was chasing the league record of 30, before falling just short.

As has been the case in recent years, pitching was a leading factor in many Indians wins.

Joe Brown, from Trinity University, finished with 56 strikeouts, which is amongst the league leaders.

St. Bonaventure’s Soren Johnson had six saves to help anchor the bullpen.

Finally, Indianapolis product Chase Huotari, who was a late arrival, went 3-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 34 strikeouts in four starts.

The players are back home now. For many it’s the first extended period time back home since January. Soon they’ll head back to college, and eventually some may return next summer to Rome.

The Indians organization wishes them the best of luck and thanks them for all of their effort and memories they provided.

The Rome Indians are a non-for-profit organization and are the defending NYCBL champions. Founded in 1978, the NYCBL is a summer league for premier college baseball players and is sponsored by the NCAA and Major League Baseball.

All Indian home games are played at Larry DeLutis Field at the Griffiss Business & Technology Park. For ticket information call (315) 796-4051.

Friends of the Rome Indians