Baseball Signs Three More to National Letters of Intent

6/7/05 -- Long Island University baseball coach Frank Giannone has announced the signings of juniors Ryan Bouck (Schenectady, N.Y.) and Orlando Cruz (White Plains, N.Y.), and freshman Kenneth Cedel (Staten Island, N.Y.) to national letters of intent. That brings the number of signees for the 2006 season to six.

Bouck enters after being named a third team NJCAA Division III All-American for Columbia-Greene Community College (N.Y.). The standout catcher and outfielder batted .482 this season with 41 hits, 13 doubles, seven home runs, 39 RBI, was 28-of-30 on stolen-base attempts and threw out 29-of-31 attempted base stealers.

A take-control catcher who showed noticeable improvement in his defensive skills, Bouck was tabbed first team All-Mid-State Conference a second straight year and also first team All-Region 3. The school’s winner of the David A. Rarich Scholar-Athlete Award this year arrives in downtown Brooklyn with a 3.1 GPA.

Bouck in 2004 led the nation with 66 RBI in addition to batting .404 with 63 hits, six homers and 29 stolen bases. He was selected second team All-Region 3.

Cruz is coming off two monster campaigns for Rockland Community College (N.Y.). This season as the first baseman, he batted .382 with 34 hits, 18 runs, nine doubles, eight homers, 30 RBI and a .753 slugging percentage. As the designated hitter in 2004, Cruz batted .404 with 36 hits, 24 runs, 12 doubles, three homers, 29 RBI and a .663 slugging percentage.

Competing at the same junior college as former LIU infielder and pitcher Chris Brescia (2002-05), Cruz was a two-time All-Mid-Hudson Conference honoree. He was coached by former Blackbirds standout Joe Zeccardi (1996-99).

Cruz played prep ball for White Plains High School, where he enjoyed a strong senior campaign by batting .485 with 32 hits, nine doubles, four home runs, an .833 slugging percentage and a .485 on-base average.

Cedel gives the Blackbirds another strong left-handed starter along with John Massoni (Staten Island, N.Y.), who signed during the fall. The 6-1, two-year varsity player is 9-0 this season with a save and a 1.47 ERA for Tottenville High School. Cedel struck out 11 and yielded just three hits Sunday in the Pirates’ 2-1 victory over Grand Street to advance to the PSAL final.

Cedel, who selected LIU over Rider, Fairleigh Dickinson and Mercyhurst (Pa.), helped Tottenville in 2004 finish second in the PSAL. He closed the season 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA along with 49 strikeouts and two earned runs allowed over 25 innings.

He also played last fall for the Bergen Beach Athletics along with Massoni and future LIU teammate and infielder Steven Morreale (Freehold, N.J.). Cedel posted a 4-0 overall record, including a two-hit complete game with 10 strikeouts in the Perfect Game Northeast Tournament. He was named to the all-tournament team.

Freshman pitcher/outfielder Anthony Amatucci (Toms River, N.J.) is the last of the six already inked by the Blackbirds.