Massapequa RHP Dan Gdanksi could not have scripted this one any better. The Cortland-commit came within one-out of throwing a no-hitter in his first varsity start. He allowed a double with two outs in the seventh but struck out the final batter to finish off a masterful 6-0 one-hit shutout in the season opener against Syosset.
“A win is our first priority,” said the senior RHP. “I pitched pretty well–I was hitting my spots today. My defense did a great job behind me. We just played together as a team today,” he added.
It was a pitcher’s duel early on.
Syosset’s Griffin Laine pitched very well through four innings, allowing just a single to DH James Zupo. Massapequa Head Coach Tom Sheedy knew the team would be very excited on Opening Day and did not panic when they didn’t score in the early going.
“First game of the season, everyone is excited. We thought second time through the lineup we’d be better, but we weren’t and then when Nick (Fossari) got that base hit every one just settled in,” he added.
The Chiefs took advantage of a couple defensive miscues in the fifth inning.
Leadoff batter Matt Pinto smoked one to right field that the right fielder misjudged and wound up going for a lead off double. The next batter, Andrew Primm dropped down a perfectly executed bunt, in which Laine stumbled and allowed both runners to advance safely.
Fossari came up with a huge two-run double to get the Chiefs on the board and then SS Chris Wasson broke it open three batters later with a two-run single to make it 4-0.
That was all the offense Gdanski would need. He worked quicked, was efficient with his pitches and skated through the Braves’ lineup.
He stated that he began thinking about the no-hitter in the fifth inning. It really appeared it might be a magical afternoon when Fossari made a stellar play up the middle, ranging to the shortstop side of the second base bag to barely nab the runner at first.
The Chiefs added two more insurance runs for good measure. Zupo smacked an RBI double and Andrew Primm lined an RBI single to score Matt Pinto in the sixth.
Gdanski finished with seven strikeouts–one in each of the first five innings and two in the seventh. The lone hit was a two-out double by Mike Andre in the seventh.
The two teams will be back at it tomorrow at Massapequa.
