by Vinny Messana
Joe Cunningham smacked a two-run single to center field to put Riverhead up 10-7 in the seventh inning to stave off Newfield and win a wild back-and-forth affair.
“It would’ve been easy to put their heads in the tank and say ‘this is how it’s gonna be’, but they fought back, they won and now we have to get ready for Smithtown East,” said Head Coach Rob Maccone.
Newfield had their young stud, sophomore Kyle Johnson, on the hill looking to complete the three-game sweep. He came out throwing real hard and, aside from a single, had a smooth inning.
Kyle Johnson delivering a warmup pitch (Photo Credit: Vinny Messana)
The Wolverines got on the board first against Cunningham with two runs thanks to an error and an RBI single by Ryan Wappaus.
Johnson worked in and out of trouble in the second, allowing two singles and stranding them both. The Blue Waves broke through in the third inning with a three-spot off Johnson. Tom Powers led off with a single and Cunningham drove him in with an opposite field triple. Ryan Lull drove him in with an RBI double to right field.After two ground outs, Zach Giannuzzi gave Riverhead the lead with an RBI single.
They added another run in the fourth on an RBI single by Cunningham to increase the lead to 5-3.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Wolverines’ bats went to work. They loaded the bases with one out for catcher Matt Schmidt. He smacked a bases-clearing triple to left field that would’ve been a grand slam had there been a fence. It did not matter, because the next batter, Tom DeSena drove him in with a single.
Ryan Dunbar came on in relief of Johnson and fired a 1-2-3 sixth inning to put the Wolverines three outs away from the sweep.
It did not go as planned, however.
Two hits and a walk to lead off the inning put the go-ahead run on first base for Giannuzzi. A wild pitch made it 7-6. Then he rolled a grounder along the first base line that was initially foul but rolled fair which brought in the tying run.
Sophomore submariner Reis Lehmler came on in relief but walked the first batter to give the Blue Waves the 8-7 lead. Cunningham, still in the game despite the score, helped himself with a two-run single to give himself some cushion.
He went back out for the seventh inning looking to complete the game but he ran into some trouble and walked the bases loaded. He was lifted in favor of Mike McCormack, who came in from third base.
Cunningham’s line was–6.2 IP, 7 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 6 K and he received the win.
He struck out the only batter he faced to record the save and get Riverhead their first win of the season.
Maccone was pleased with what he saw from his senior starting pitcher, who had only appeared in one game last season.
“I love what I saw from him,” said Maccone. “This is his first real test on the mound and he battled through everything and kept us in the game–couldn’t be more proud of him.”
