The College of Staten Island recently completed what was their final turn through the City University of New York Athletic Conference in 2019-20.  Leaving behind a tremendous wake as one of the CUNYAC's founding members, day-by-day we will be looking back at each of CSI's programs, notably the CUNYAC Championship teams spanning over 40 years in our spring CUNYAC retrospective entitled, "Remember the Legacy."  This historical look back will chronicle the amazing achievements of CSI athletics programs, complete with championships, milestones, and amazing performances.

Our final sport spotlighted will be Softball, a program that got its start when the College of Staten Island became a Division III member institution during the 1977-1978 athletic season.  The first two years of the program's history did not see the team participate in a CUNYAC Postseason Tournament, but in each of the first three season they did participate, 1980 through 1982, they failed to make it past the first round.  The following year in 1983, the team participated in their first CUNYAC Championship and lost by a single run, but upon their return in 1985 they won the conference title for the first time.  Another one-run defeat in the championship game ended the 1986 season before the team won four of the next five CUNYAC Championships from 1987 through 1992.  Three seasons would separate the 1992 championship from the next Dolphins title in 1996, the first of another three championships before the close of the decade.  It was Hunter College that stood between the Dolphins and another championship for much of the early 2000s as Hunter ended CSI's season in the CUNYAC Tournament each year from 2001 through 2003.  The two teams would meet in the CUNYAC Championship all but one season from 2004 through 2009 with CSI winning four of the five meetings.  Ahead of their move to Division II in 2019, the last ten years have seen the Dolphins assert dominance over the conference winning eight CUNYAC Championships, seven straight from 2013-2019.
 
THE START
The College of Staten Island became a Division III member institution in the fall of 1977, and was a founding member of the CUNY Athletic Conference.  The following spring, the college began offering softball as a varsity sport and played a nine-game schedule that included four CUNYAC opponents, Queens College, Lehman, Brooklyn, and John Jay.  During each of their first two seasons, the Dolphins were coached by Hall of Famer Betty Zwingraf and the team went 3-6 and 4-8.  Zwingraf also coached Women's Tennis that same season, and had stints with the Women's Basketball and Women's Volleyball programs as well.
 
THE FIRSTS
First Game:  April 3, 1978 vs. Queens College – Queens defeated the Dolphins, 12-8, which was also their first CUNYAC contest
First Win:  April 12, 1978 - CSI defeated St. Johns (SI), 20-4
First CUNYAC Win:  May 10, 1978 – CSI defeated John Jay, 13-3
First Coach: Betty Zwingraf, who spent two years with the team before returning for an additional two years in 1983 and 1984, and later an assistant coach for 17 years until her retirement in 2012
 
THE PRE-TOURNAMENT ERA - 1978-1979

Statistics are scarce for the earliest CSI Softball seasons in 1978 and 1979, but the results from those first two seasons demonstrate the improvement of the team against the CUNYAC from year one to year two.  After going 1-3 in the conference during their inaugural season, the Dolphins won four of their five CUNYAC games in their second season.  However, the CUNYAC did not sponsor a championship tournament during either of these two years, and when the team got their first chance to participate in the postseason, it would be under the leadership of a new head coach. 

IN SEARCH OF A CONFERENCE TITLE - 1980-1985
Zwingraf departed prior to the start of the 1980 season and was replaced by Lillian Montalbano who led the Dolphins through an expanded seventeen-game schedule.  Once again, the team posted a winning record against the CUNYAC that year, but they were eliminated in the conference tournament's first round.  Each of the next two seasons ended in the same fashion with the Dolphins being knocked out of the tournament in the opening round.  The end of the 1982 season marked the end of Montalbano's tenure and saw Zwingraf return to coach the team in 1983.  This was the team's best season yet as they advanced to the CUNYAC Championship for the first time in program history.  However, they would come up one run short against Lehman, the team which also ended CSI's postseason run the following year in 1984.

Following her second two-year stint with the team, Zwingraf was replaced by Rich Gilberto in 1985, and the team, led by the bat of Lynne Brown and the arm of Ellen Gribbin, posted an overall winning record with a mark of 13-8, 4-0 against the CUNYAC.  This set the stage for a postseason run that concluded with the team's first CUNYAC Championship.  After overcoming Lehman 8-6 in the tournament's first round, CSI moved on to face Hunter College in the CUNYAC Championship for the first time in program history.  They defeated the Hawks 5-1 in what was just the first of many championship matchups between the two sides, and this win put the Dolphins among the premier programs in the conference to stay.


 

CHAMPIONSHIP RIVALRY IS BORN - 1986-1992
The 1985 CUNYAC Championship meeting between the Dolphins and Hawks was just the start of a series of title game meetings between the two teams spanning nearly 15 years.  The first of these matchups came at the end of the 1986 season which saw the Dolphins finish 18-8.  However, the Hawks defeated the defending-champion Dolphins, 1-0, to deny CSI the repeat.  An 11-9 campaign in 1987 ended with the Dolphins back in the CUNYAC Championship against John Jay, their only championship game against a team other than Hunter from 1985 to 1998.  The Dolphins won the game convincingly, 10-0, beginning a streak of title wins that carried them through the early 1990's.

Led by Donna Bartuccelli, Carrie Marini, Kelly Benanti and Michelle Gargano, the Dolphins did not lose a single conference game in 1990 on their way to a 23-5 record and went on to win the CUNYAC Championship for the second straight year.  The team's conference supremacy continued the next two seasons as well with Erin Donahue and Toni Talbot, a duo present for all three CSI titles from 1990 through 1992, remaining an integral part of two more conference championship teams.  With CSI getting the better of the rival Hawks for three consecutive seasons, the loss of key players to graduation took a toll on the team, and it would be the Hawks the seized control of the rivalry for the seasons to come.      
 
A BACK-AND-FORTH AFFAIR - 1993-1999

After taking three-straight CUNYAC Championship games against rival Hunter College plus their 1989 title win over John Jay, the Dolphins entered the 1993 season the four-time defending CUNYAC Champions.  However, the team failed to finish above the .500 mark for the first time since 1984 and they wrapped a 12-12 season with a loss to Hunter in the CUNYAC Championship.  They likewise finished the 1994 season at .500 and fell to Hunter in the conference title game for the second straight year.  This defeat brought Gilberto's time with the team to a close and Sonny Grasso took over as Head Coach in 1995, just days leading up to the season.  Grasso was tabbed as an interim solution, but the former baseball skipper stayed with the program for three seasons.

1995 saw the emergence of a pair of hitters that put up some of the best numbers in the history of the program in Lynne Addington and Danielle Fischer.  Joining returner Michelle Cialino, they formed the heart of the Dolphins lineup.  Despite the offensive firepower the trio added to the CSI lineup, the team once again finished with a losing record in 1995 and dropped the CUNYAC Championship to Hunter.  In 1996, CSI was back in the CUNYAC Championship again, but this time their path to the title game saw the team win a 49-run slugfest over John Jay in the semifinals by a score of 28-21.  When they battled the Hawks in the championship game, they escaped with a one-run win to dethrone the three-time repeating champions.  Grasso became the CUNYAC's first and only Head Coach to win a Championship in Softball and Baseball.

The following year marked the eighth straight matchup in the CUNYAC Championship between Hunter and CSI with the Hawks regaining the conference championship back after just one year.  However, this was last title they would win in the 90's, and the Dolphins would stay on top for the remainder of the decade.  Under a new Head Coach in Gina Battista, the Dolphins saw an infusion of hitting into their lineup in the late 90's with Hall of Famer Michelle DeBella, Kelly Payne, and Lucana Troia.  The team would go on to win championships during each of the next two seasons, but the start of the 2000's saw the team forced to slowly work their way back to the top of the conference.


 

PREMATURE POSTSEASON EXITS - 2000-2003
When the 1990's came to a close the Dolphins were the two-time reigning CUNYAC Champions and seemed primed to continue reigning atop the conference in 2000.  At the end of a 16-15 season, the Dolphins were back in the CUNYAC Championship, this time against John Jay.  It was the first time a team other than Hunter had met CSI in the CUNYAC title game since 1989 when the Dolphins faced the Bloodhounds.  Avenging their loss over 10 years ago in their last championship appearance, John Jay defeated CSI by a single run, 11-10. 

2001 once again saw CSI add a trio of players that would place them among the favorites to win the CUNYAC title in Donna Przybyszewski, Theresa Caputo, and Pamela Barone.  They joined returners AnnMarie Saporito and Jaclyn Scimone to lead the Dolphins to an 18-10 record that year, but the team failed to reach the CUNYAC Championship for the first time since 1984.  Looking to bounce back from a disappointing end to 2001, the team went 27-11, including a perfect 19-0 at home, the next year and returned to the CUNYAC title game, but this time it was the Hawks defeating the Dolphins, 8-1.  The loss to Hunter saw Battista's tenure come to an end with Stella Porto coming on to replace her in 2003.  For the third time in four years, CSI failed to reach the CUNYAC Championship that season, but the years to come would see the Dolphins return to the championship scene to stay.


 

AN ERA OF DOMINANCE - 2004-2012
Not many programs experience the period of prolonged success and championship-winning seasons that CSI Softball enjoyed over the last 15 years, but beginning in 2004 CSI would establish themselves as the team to beat in the CUNYAC.  Porto won CUNYAC Coach of the Year and Christina D'Arpa won Player of the Year in 2004 with the team going on to win the CUNYAC Championship over Hunter, 2-1.  Both Porto and D'Arpa became repeat winners of those awards in 2005, Jennifer Doscher and Theresa Tepedino earned CUNYAC All-Star nods, and the team won their second straight CUNYAC Championship.  Having earned their first ever NCAA Tournament berth in 2004, the program picked up its first tournament win in 2005 over Manhattanville College.  This would be the first of five NCAA Division III Tournament victories for the program with the most recent coming in 2017.

The Dolphins and yet another CSI CUNYAC Player of the Year winner, Brianne Russo, were overtaken by Hunter in 2006, but in 2007 CSI took the road less traveled to another CUNYAC title.  In a 28-13 season that saw them go 10-0 against the conference, the Dolphins opened the CUNYAC Tournament by defeating John Jay in the opening round.  They then lost to Hunter in the first of two semifinals games before beating Baruch to advance to the CUNYAC Championship.  Needing to win two games against a Hunter team that had already beaten them in the tournament, the Dolphins did just that and added another CUNYAC Championship to their storied rival against the Hawks.

A losing season followed in 2008, but the Dolphins and CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Kaitlynn Flynn were right back on top in 2009 following a 23-14 season.  Adding yet another chapter to their rivalry with Hunter, they defeated the Hawks in the CUNYAC Championship.  In each of the three seasons that followed, the Dolphins would meet Baruch in the championship with Baruch winning two titles and the Dolphins winning one.  In addition to the team winning another title, Danielle Ponsiglione became a two-time CUNYAC Pitcher of the Year, Brittany Smith was named 2012 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, and Flynn won 2012 Player of the Year during this three-season stretch.  However, the team did finish 2012 with a losing record for the first time since 2008 and would be looking to return to the success the program had become so accustomed to since the start of Porto's tenure.
 
THE STREAK THAT NEVER ENDED - 2013-19

Coming off a losing season and a CUNYAC Championship loss, the Dolphins finished the 2013 season 24-16 and returned to the title game for another meeting with Hunter College.  The Dolphins would win the tournament's final game, 9-8, beginning a streak of consecutive titles that would see no end.  In 2014, CSI would add CUNYAC Pitcher of the Year Jacqueline Cautela and second-year player Christina Tufano would win CUNYAC Player of the Year on the way to another championship win over Hunter.  Cautela would repeat as Pitcher of the Year in 2015 and the Dolphins would win their third straight conference title by virtue of a victory over Hunter.  2016 brought the debut of Vanessa Joia and the final season for seniors Chyanne Gilliam and Tufano, all of whom helped lead the team to yet another CUNYAC Championship win over Hunter.

2017 saw the Dolphins achieve a program record 35 victories behind three of the best seasons in the circle the program has ever seen.  Cautela, Nicolette Trapani and Alison Meagher achieved the three best single-season ERA's in program history that year and CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Patricia Riches hit .522 with a program record 70 hits.  Second-year player Antoinette Galbo also established herself as a fixture at the top of a Dolphins batting order for a CSI team that scored over 300 runs.  This put the team in the CUNYAC title game against Hunter once again and another title victory made it five in a row.  2018 finally saw the team face an opponent other than Hunter in the championship game for the first time since 2012 when the Dolphins defeated Lehman College for the team's sixth consecutive championship.  In 2019, the team relied heavily on the arm of Jaclyn Kateridge and the bat of Riches, who surpassed her 2017 mark by hitting .542 for the season.  An injury plagued run to the title game in CSI's last CUNYAC Tournament culminated with the last of seven straight conference championships, the deciding victory coming against top-seeded Hunter College.
 
A NEW ERA - 2019-2020
Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, Porto retired as the all-time winningest coach in the history of the CSI Softball program.  Shortly after her departure, the College of Staten Island announced that the program would be moving to NCAA Division II and in the summer of 2019 they hired new Head Coach Eric Kraut.  After months of preparation for the upcoming season, Kraut and the team saw the entirety of the 2020 season canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.  Unlike some of the other spring sports that had already gotten underway, the Softball unit had not yet played a single game.  When the program returns in 2021, it will be as a full-time member of the East Coast Conference, but the legacy they leave in behind Division III and the CUNYAC is as the most successful program in the history of their conference. 

REMEMBER THE LEGACY
First Season:  1978
All-Time Record: 713-525-3 (.578)
All-Time CUNYAC Record:  312-56 (.753)
CUNYAC Postseason Championships: 21 - 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Hall of Famers:  Elizabeth Zwingraf (2012), Sebastian "Sonny" Grasso (2012), Nicole Estrada (2014), Christina D'Arpa, (2016) Michelle DeBella (2018)

Cover Photo from left to right: Michelle DeBella, Jacqueline Cautela, Patricia Riches