(Wappingers Falls, NY) - An awful lot has happened since the last time the Westchester Community College Baseball team ended a season without capturing the Region XV Championship: Both the Winter and Summer Olympics were held, Derek Jeter retired as one of the greatest players in New York Yankees history and became the owner of a Major League Baseball franchise, and the Chicago Cubs captured a World Series after 108 years of frustration and agony for their fans. Indeed, the last time Westchester did not lay claim to the Region XV crown, most of the current roster was finishing up their days in Middle School, and looking forward to their first days of High School baseball. 

It was 2013 when this rare event last happened, and for a while late last week, it seemed like the magical run would continue, but by the time the final out was recorded late as Friday night turned into Saturday morning, it was clear that another championship was just not meant to be.

After Thursday's exhilarating upset of second-seeded Sullivan CC that took place mere hours after the Generals swept the season series from WCC, Westchester gave top-seeded - and previously unbeaten in Region XV play - Rockland CC all it could handle, and then some, on Friday afternoon, ultimately losing 18-10. Hours later, an exhausted Viking squad fell 11-3 to fourth seeded, and eventual Region XV Champion, Ulster CC 11-3 to see their season come to an end. With the losses, the final 2019 ledger for the Vikings was 24-16. 

While the dynastic run might be over, the impact the last five seasons had on this program simply cannot be denied. During five seasons of championship glory, Westchester Community College emerged as a huge game on anybody's schedule. Five Vikings earned NJCAA All-America honors during the championship run. There were dozens of All-Conference and All-Region Baseball players for WCC, and even more who went on to compete at four-year schools. Over the course of five consecutive title runs, Westchester CC became one of the premier baseball programs in the NJCAA, and there is little to indicate their status is going to change anytime soon ...

Especially based on the way the team played late last week. 

After a roller coaster ride of a regular season that was followed up by an incredible 12-3 win over Sullivan on Thursday, Westchester took on Rockland CC on Friday with the top-seeded Hawks viewing a game against Westchester as a minor skirmish on their journey to what appeared to be an inevitable region crown of their own. The skirmish turned into a five-hour battle, and Westchester pushed a team that did not fall in region play all season long to the limit, exhausting the #1 seed to the point where the game proved to be Rockland's final win of the 2019 season.

Westchester led 2-0 after two innings, and after Rockland scored seven consecutive runs during the third and fourth innings, Westchester went on a run of their own. The Vikings scored three times during the top of the fifth inning to make it a 7-5 game, and an inning later, the teams were tied at nine. However, from there, Rockland scored nine of the last 10 runs to earn a hard-fought win. In fact, it was exhausting as neither team would win another game in the tournament.

Sophomore Chris Cipriano (Irvington, NY/Dobbs Ferry HS) had a huge game, going 2 for 4 with three RBI's and two runs scored, while freshman CJ Spence (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon HS) went 2 for 5 with two RBI's. Also for the Vikings, sophomore Steve Guzman (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy HS) reached base safely three times and scored four runs.

The loss left Westchester with little in the tank remaining as they had to turn around immediately to face Ulster, and the opportunistic Senators scored at least one run in each inning en route to an 11-3 win. The victory brought a new life to Ulster as the Senators defeated Westchester and then swept Rockland CC to earn the Region XV Championship in shocking fashion.

During the season-ending loss, Spence went 1 for 2 with two all's, while sophomore Steve Messerschmitt (Carmel, NY/Carmel HS) and freshman Hailyn Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Bronx Envision Academy) scored runs. Sophomore Luis Gomez (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) allowed only two earned runs over four innings during the final performance of a career that saw Gomez become the all-time career wins leader in Westchester Community College. 

While the loss ended an incredible run for the Vikings, a single season without a Region XV Championship will not temper expectations as a solid core is expected to return for the 2020 season. After all, the last time a Vikings team ended a season without a region championship, it would be six more years until another season ended without one.