Through out the season, Exclusive aXcess members will be able to read our Insider Notes section based on observations from a scout’s perspective.
Today I was in attendance for the Maritime vs St. Joseph’s showdown at Gregg Alfano Field in Patchogue. It was a crucial match up for two reasons
- If Maritime won both, they were in the driver’s seat in the Skyline Conference
- If St. Joseph’s won both, they were in the driver’s seat in the Skyline Conference.
As it ends up, the two teams played at completely different speeds and the Golden Eagles won both games by the score of 7-0 while getting complete games from both Brandon Lubrano and Josh Outsen. I was a bit surprised that Maritime was so flat offensively.
In Game 1, they only mounted a couple of rallies but the most promising of which was in the top of the third when the leadoff batter reached on an error by the second baseman and Lubrano walked the next batter. The game was only 2-0 in favor of St. Joseph’s at this time and the Privateers were threatening with the top of the order coming off.
Lubrano got tough and induced an infield popup to Matt Costleigh, getting a weak ground out by Chris Deddo and another from Steve Semler. All three of those hitters had been red-hot.
Also in the fifth, this time with the score 3-0, Maritime mounted a threat with a one-out double from Connor Alwan and a two-out walk by Deddo, Lubrano induced a ground out from Semler. They never got a runner past second base after that.
How did Lubrano do it?
Lubrano is a very experienced pitcher. In fact, because of two red shirts, he is in his sixth collegiate season. He is unnerved by the big moment and is at his best in big games. He is not overpowering–he was 80-83 MPH with his fastball, but he used all four quadrants of the strike zone, he also is adept at working backwards, keeping his change up below the zone and expanding with two strikes. He forced many uncomfortable hacks and his two-seam was darting away from the right-handed batters. Not many hitters can lay off a pitch that they recognize as a fastball that ends up six inches off the corner.
He was very fired up, he showed his emotion on his sleeve on several occasions and the Golden Eagles certainly received a boost in confidence from their ace pitcher.
Their offense was hot from the start.
The top-four hitters in their line up (Anthony Bonilla, Matthew Burnett, Paul Britt and Lou Doria) accounted for 11 of the team’s 12 hits. Britt laced doubles in his first two at bats, and a triple in his third at bat–showing very good bat speed. Lou Doria ripped an RBI single and RBI double (just missing a HR) in his third plate appearance.
These two are crucial for the team. Both are transfers that showed very good promise in the spring but it remained to be seen how it translated to the game. Both have been phenomenal for the Golden Eagles. Doria is a big left-handed bat that possesses a sweet swing that garnered interest when he coming out of Wantagh HS. He wound up at LIU Post and now has found a home at St. Joseph’s.
Their lineup also has no easy outs with the reigning League 5 MVP in Tyler Sanderson in the eight-hole. He ripped a big RBI single in Game 2 to open up a 2-0 lead.
For the Privateers, it was a bit of a letdown following yesterday’s DH sweep. They are still right in the mix, but they will have to beat Farmingdale if they want to get the No. 2 seed in the conference come playoff time.
Travis Bruinsma had entered the game 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA but he didn’t have his best stuff. He can usually ramp it up to 87 MPH but he was typically 82-85 MPH today. He also missed up in the zone on a number of occasions and the Golden Eagles made him pay for it with extra-base hits. I thought they could’ve made a switch to the pen earlier in the game when it was clear he didn’t have his best, but they opted to let him figure it out. It was a gamble that didn’t pay off.
