by Vinny Messana
When Flo Rida’s “My House” came blaring over the speakers it was almost a metaphor for how the Old Westbury Panthers were treating the day.
From the first inning of the first game, they had the intensity and focus of a team that was hellbent on winning a double header from an up-and-coming team just beaming with confidence.
Photo Credit: Vinny Messana
That, plus two top-notch pitching performances helped the Panthers sweep the DH over St. Joseph’s by the scores of 9-2 and 4-0. Both starting pitchers, Jeremy Charles in Game One and Danny Aguilo in Game Two threw complete games, and controlled the tempo of the game.
“He’s just a warrior out there,” said SS Tommy Zeigen in regards to Charles, who put himself in the conversation for Skyline Conference Player of the Year after a three-hit performance in the first game and two more in the second game. “He doesn’t want to give up hits or runs. He’s real fun to play behind,” he added.
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After Charles allowed an RBI single in the first inning to Brendan Sullivan, which scored Nick Girardi, he was absolutely locked in.
He had the type of intensity more often seen on the gridiron or even in the octagon.
After he allowed the hit to Sullivan, he drilled Joseph Calabrese with a fastball and promptly screamed at the dugout as he walked towards them. It was clearly a situation where the moment got the best of him, but rather than fold, he got angry and channeled his emotions into results.
His offense tied up the game in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Lao. He drove in Zeigen, who reached on an error by Calabrese and then stole second and advanced to third when the throw scooted away from the shortstop.
Charles escaped a jam with one-out and a runner on third in the second inning when he fanned Ryan Walsh on a filthy slider and induced a pop out to first by Anthony Bonilla.
The Panthers scored two in the second on an RBI double by Tyler Roberts to deep left field. Jesse Russo added the second run on a bloop single to left field to make it 3-1.
In the fourth inning, Golden Eagles starter Josh Outsen faltered. After striking out Mike Cardino, he allowed a bloop double to Roberts, followed with a hit by pitch of Joey Walsh. Russo followed with a huge two-run triple to make it 5-1 and essentially break it open.
Charles went into cruise control and retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth inning before allowing an RBI single in the seventh by Ryan Walsh. He finished with 10 K and improved to 3-2 on the season.He now has 51 K through 42 IP.
The Panthers compiled 14 hits. Dean Sheridan went 4-for-5 with two RBI, Russo and Zeigen both had three hits.Tyler Roberts had two hits.
For the Golden Eagles, Sullivan was the only player with two hits. They had six in the game. Outsen was tagged with his second loss of the season.
In the second game, it was Nick Girardi against Danny Aguilo. While Girardi is the reigning Skyline Conference Player of the Year and has garnered buzz for his electric fastball, it was Aguilo who was the star of the game.
The transfer from Nassau CC used an impressive arsenal of pitches and unflappable composure to dominant the Golden Eagles lineup.
After Aguilo danced around a hit and an error in the first inning, the Panthers used a patient approach against the erratic Girardi.
He entered having not allowed a hit over 12.0 IP with 23 K, despite walking 10. He was even more wild today.
He walked the bases loaded in the first inning, and the Panthers scored on a double steal which resulted in Kevin Lao stealing home.
“We knew he had good velocity, but we saw in warmups that he wasn’t finding the zone. We were sitting fastball because he wasn’t throwing his breaking ball for strikes,” he added.
Aguilo got through the second with only 10 pitches thanks to Carlos Balmaceda throwing out Joe Lynn on an attempted steal.
The Panthers got two runs in the second inning on a two-run single by Zeigen with runners on second and third. The hit was a crushing blow to the Golden Eagles, who knew they had an uphill battle against Aguilo.
They added one in the fourth against Steve Szobesky, who came on in relief of Girardi–who lasted 3+ innings and walked six while allowing four ER.
Aguilo threw only eight pitches in the fifth inning and 15 pitches to navigate through the sixth inning despite a leadoff single.
When he retired Mike Griffo to end the game on a ground out to Zeigen, it was only his 86th pitch of the day.
It was his fourth win of the season already against one loss. He struck out only three but walked only one, resulting in the low pitch count.
With the victories, the Panthers improve to 13-6 on the season while the Golden Eagles fall to 8-4.
