By 1994, the College of Staten Island baseball team had already set a winning precedent. The team had won five CUNYAC titles, made two trips to the NCAA National Championship and collected an ECAC Metro title, the first in their history. So, it was difficult to anticipate that an athlete would come along that would change the way many looked at the program; an athlete that would change the way the sport would forever be measured, especially at a time when the Dolphins were turning the page and considered to be in “rebuilding mode.” But that student-athlete did come by way of Jason Anarumo.
The 6-3 infielder was an intimidating presence from the start, appearing in all 27 games as a freshman in 1994. He would hit a blistering .410 at the dish, leading the team with 41 hits, 33 RBI, 9 doubles, and a .590 slugging percentage, easily winning CUNYAC Player of the Year honors his inaugural season. Still, the Dolphins came up short of a title that year, dropping a tough loss to Lehman College.
Thus, the journey towards CUNYAC supremacy followed, and for Anarumo, the hits just kept on coming. In 1995, Anarumo belted 27 hits over 80 at-bats, good for a .338 clip, leading the team with four homers and placing second on the squad with a .495 on-base percentage. The Dolphins crept up the standings, but another tough loss in the Final ensued.
By his junior season, Anarumo was one of the league’s torch-bearing stars, and he would deliver yet again. The Dolphins would improve their win total by 9 games and he would have a season for the ages, with a .466 batting average, the 3rd-highest in school history to that point, a school-record 9 home runs and another 36 RBI. Again, however, the buck stopped at the CUNYAC Championship, and Anarumo would have just one more opportunity in his senior season, to put CSI baseball back on top of the conference.
With the pressure on, Anarumo did more than just deliver in 1997. He led the way with a .455 average, raking in 61 hits, then a school record, with what remains a school-record 57 RBI, 13 doubles and a colossal 14 home runs with a .987 slugging percentage. The icing on the cake? Anarumo led the Dolphins to a 10-7 win over John Jay College in the CUNYAC Final, and was named both Tournament and League MVP, leading the team to what was then the second-highest win total in school history at 26. For his career, the standout ranks in the top five in 16 different offensive categories and still holds the school’s all-time career record for home runs and single season records for RBI, home runs, and triples.
