Long Islanders officially have something to be happy about. Not only has high school baseball lived up to the expectations, but college baseball has improved dramatically since the start of the year. The teams that have succeeded are continuing on that pace and the teams that have struggled have mostly turned it around. After another successful Saturday, Long Island baseball has definitely redeemed itself since the start of the season.
Stony Brook sweeps Maine in double-header
The Seawolves have pulled a full 180 on their season as they inch closer to the .500 mark. With the double-header sweep of Maine on Saturday, they move to 19-21 on the year. They were able to snag game one 6-3 and game two 4-3.
In game one, a majority of the Seawolves’ runs came in the sixth inning as they put up a four spot. Though Stony Brook didn’t have a hitter with multiple hits in the game, they still found ways to be productive through patience and solid at-bats. The top three hitters in the order, Toby Handley, Bobby Honeyman, and Casey Baker, all had hits in the game. Nick Grande, Jeremy Giles, Sean Buckhout, and Mike Wilson also had hits in the game including a Wilson homerun.
Bret Clarke is showing dramatic improvement on the mound recording the win and putting his record at 3-3 on the year. He gave the Seawolves 6.1 solid innings allowing three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and only one walk. Greg Marino was great in relief going 1.2 innings while only allowing one hit. Aaron Pinto then came in for the save throwing a perfect inning with two strikeouts.
Game two ended in a walk-off walk as Toby Handley took the free pass allowing Andruw Gazzola to score. This contest was much like the first where the offense didn’t show too much on the box score, but was enough to get the job done. Handley, Casey Baker, Dylan Resk, Andruw Gazzola, and Mike Wilson had hits in the game with Resk hitting a big fly in the sixth.
Brian Herrmann got the start for the Seawolves and went six innings allowing three runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Teddy Rodliff got the victory however as he went two innings while only allowing a hit.
Stony Brook will look to complete the series sweep against Maine on Sunday.
Hofstra goes down in extras against Northeastern
An absolute heartbreaker for the Hofstra Pride as they dropped one late against Northeastern 5-4 on Saturday. The 10-inning contest resulted in a drop to 10-30 record for the Pride. The offense was definitely present as they were able to put up 11 hits in the game. David Leiderman had a fantastic day recording three hits with an RBI and a walk. Vito Friscia, Brad Witkowski, and Tom Archer all also had two hits apiece. Steve Foster and Teddy Cillis had hits in the game as well.
John Rooney got the start for Hofstra and pitched well in six innings allowing two runs on five hits with ten strikeouts to boot. John Ryan came in relief in the seventh where we fared well until the ninth inning. He totaled three runs allowed on six hits in only three innings pitched.
Hofstra will look to take a game in the series against Northeastern after dropping the first two this weekend on Sunday.
Fordham takes the loss despite ten hits against Rhode Island
The Fordham Rams dropped a tough one to Rhode Island on Saturday 5-3 after a near comeback. After getting shut out for six innings, they put up three runs in the seventh sparking some life into their lineup. However, URI answered back with two of their own ultimately sealing the victory.
The entire Fordham lineup seemed to get in on the action as they were able to put up ten hits in the game. Ryan Mahoney was the only one with more than one hit as he put up two on the day. Matt Kozuch, Justin Bardwell, Mark Donadio, Luke Stampfl, Reiss Knehr, Matt Tarabek, Jason Lundy, and Billy Godrick all had hits in the game. Despite the pure hit production from this lineup, the run production was not on the same level. Donadio and Mahoney were the only two with RBI in the game.
Jimmy Murphy got the ball in this one recording his sixth loss of the season as opposed to four wins. He looked good early as he only surrendered one run in the first five innings. The sixth and seventh inning were big for Rhode Island with four runs being put up in those two frames. He threw seven innings allowing five runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Kyle Martin was great in relief with only one inning of work striking out two.
Fordham will look to bounce back against Rhode Island again on Sunday.
Adelphi and Queens split in double-header on Knights’ senior day
Good old senior day worked its magic for the Queens Knights in game one as they emerged victorious 4-3. Not only did they win, they won it in walk-off fashion. After scoring the first two runs in the game early, they fell behind after Adelphi came back and scored three in the last two innings. In the bottom half of the final frame, Queens puts two more on the board including a walk-off bunt single from Andrew Navarez.
For Queens, Joe Morris, Joe Pidoto, and Louis Antos had two hits apiece with Pidoto having a pair of RBI. Paulino Harrington, Nick Luciano, Ryan Bender, and Andrew Navarez also had hits in the game.
Mike Calabrese was brilliant in this outing going only four innings, but allowing only one hit with a strikeout and a walk. Kyle Bell was then brought in relief and went 1.2 innings allowing one run on three hits with two walks. The win went to Brandon Hoskins who went 1.1 innings allowing two runs on two hits with a walk due to the walk-off.
As for the Adelphi Panthers, the offense was a little quiet in game one as they struggled against Calabrese. Jonathan Iadevaia and Mike Stack had two hits apiece in the game whereas Steve Withers and Eric Hassell had one hit.
Dan Taggart got the start for Adelphi as he went 4.1 innings allowing two runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts. Mike Ceparano was then brought in as he went the remaining two thirds of the inning surrendering a hit along the way. Mike Demarest came in for one out allowing a hit as well. Mike Tarpey who ended up recording the loss came in for one inning surrendering two runs on two hits ultimately finishing the contest.
Game two was much different as Adelphi took this one in dominating fashion 9-0. The Panthers put up 15 hits in this one as they just had a field day in round two of this double-header. Zack Levinson had three hits in this one which led the team. Brett Malm, Brandon Morse, and Camden Orologio all had two hits apiece in the game while also combining for four RBI. Steve Withers, Jonathan Iadevaia, Rob Vani, Eric Hassell, Mike Stack, and Lawrence Cicileo had hits in the game as well.
As good as the offense was, the pitching was just as impressive. T.J. Santiago started the game and went two innings allowing no runs and three hits. Kieran McLaughlin, who ended up getting the win, went 2.2 innings without allowing a run on four hits. David Butler then came in for 1.1 innings surrendering two hits and Dan Lotito was brought in to get the final outs for a full inning.
The Queens Knights were able to compile nine hits in the game, but could not get runners to cross the plate. Nick Luciano led the team with three hits as Paulino Harrington and Jonathan Temenak had two apiece. Karl Klesin and Louis Antos also had hits in the game.
Not only did Queens have trouble scoring runs, but they had trouble preventing them as well in this one. Cameron Burt took his fourth loss of the season in this outing allowing four runs on eight hits in only 3.2 innings. Frank Alberico struggled in relief allowing five runs on four hits in 1.2 innings. Yakov Trukhin came in for 0.2 innings allowing two hits along the way. David Hernandez was then brought in to throw an inning as he allowed one hit with a strikeout.
Both teams will look to take the series on Sunday.
St. Joe’s sweeps Purchase in loud double-header
The Golden Eagles took control of this matchup with two big wins over Purchase. Game one ended 8-0 in a very well-rounded game whereas game two ended much closer at 8-3, but was still enough to call it a big victory.
St. Joe’s had quite the day at the plate not only with pure offensive firepower, but with run scoring efficiency. Matt Burnett was the only Golden Eagle hitter with multiple hits as he had three as well as two RBI. Anthony Bonilla, Lou Doria, Dan Campanelli, Tyler Sanderson, and Tyler Crafa all had hits in the game as well.
The pitching was the most impressive aspect of this team’s game on Saturday. Nick Clemente was fantastic in his start going seven strong innings only allowing three hits with three strikeouts. Brandon Lubrano was perfect in one inning in relief while Anthony Caminiti went the following inning only allowing two hits.
Game two was a bit closer, but an 8-3 victory is one that most would take nearly every time. The Golden Eagles put up 14 hits on the board. There were plenty of hitters that had multi-hit games. Anthony Raucci led the team with three hits while also recording an RBI and a run scored. Anthony Bonilla, Matt Burnett, Paul Britt, and Tyler Crafa all had two hits apiece in this one as well so the offense was very much spread out throughout the game. Dylan Piscitelli, Dan Campanelli, and Tyler Sanderson had hits in the game as well.
Josh Outsen looked good in this start going six innings allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts. P.J. Martino was perfect in his one inning of relief to close out the game.
With that double-header being the last pair of games of the season for St. Joe’s, they finished with a record of 24-12.
Maritime and Farmingdale State split double-header during Maritime senior day
A very wild pair of games between the Rams and the Privateers. Game one looked like a senior day spoiler as Farmingdale took it 11-2, but Maritime bounced back in game two and found themselves with a 1-0 win. Altogether, these contests always come out exciting.
Game one was an absolute blowout to say the least. Farmingdale put up 20 hits while only allowing five hits. Nick Osburn led the team with four hits including four RBI and a run scored. Nick Attardi and Domenic Palumbo both had three hits with Palumbo having a pair of RBI. Joe Roche, Dalton McCarthy, and Nick Soriano had two hits apiece. Cam Alfano had a hit as well in the game.
Matt Seelinger was brilliant in this outing recording his fourth victory on the season. He went 8.2 innings allowing two runs on five hits with 13 strikeouts. Ryan Mallon then came in to get the final out of the game for the Rams.
For Maritime, the five hits came from five different players. Matt Costleigh, Chris Deddo, Steve Semler, Phil Russo, and Connor Alwan had the hits in this one. Both RBI came from Russo.
A.J. Ammirati struggled this time out allowing five runs on 11 hits in 5.1 innings. He ended up with the loss putting him at a 3-3 record on the year. Nick Fortunato came in and went 1.2 innings allowing a run on three hits. Sean McQuail was brought in and struggled in only one inning of work. He allowed five runs on five hits in only one inning. Brian Hughes was then able to get the final outs in the final inning of work while allowing only one hit.
Game two was the polar opposite of the first round of this double-header. Aaron Schiavoni had the only RBI in the game for both teams with a single in the fourth. Along with Schiavoni’s hit, Brian McLaughlin and Phil Russo had two hits apiece.
The offense was not at its highest level, but Travis Bruinsma was. He went the full seven innings without allowing a run on only two hits with seven strikeouts. His record now improves to 7-2 further proving his value on this team.
Farmingdale went from 20 hits to two real quick. Vincent Rice and Nick Osburn were the only two that could muster up any hits against Bruinsma. This provides a perfect example of how crazy the game of baseball is.
The Rams really couldn’t have asked more of their pitchers in this one. Matt Constantine went 3.1 innings in the loss while surrendering one run on three hits with three strikeouts. His record moves to 5-4 after the loss. David Otero Jr. was the next guy to take the ball going 2.2 innings allowing only two hits.
Maritime will look to take a game on the road as they play St. Joseph’s Brooklyn while Farmingdale doesn’t play again until the beginning of the Skyline Conference Championship.
LIU Post’s offense shows up in double-header sweep against Mercy
The LIU Post offense was electric to say the least in Saturday’s double-header sweep over Mercy. Game one finished up 10-4 and game two was a real blowout 16-5. They have taken the first three games in this series against Mercy so far.
The Pioneers found a ton of life in their bats on Saturday recording 14 hits in game one. Tom Asbaty and Sal Geraci were tied for the team lead in hits with three while also combining for three RBI. Kenny Daley and Dave Brehm had two hits apiece as well in the contest as they helped contribute to the team’s offensive success. Joe Spitaleri, Rob Andreoli, Zach Fritz, and Jimmy Mendyk also had hits in the game.
Jake DeCarli pitched very well this time out going the full nine innings allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts. He picks up the victory improving his record to 6-1 on the year.
Game two was a serious offensive showcase for the Pioneers as they collected 16 hits. Joe Spitaleri, Rob Andreoli, and Zach Fritz all had three hits in the game combining for six RBI as well. Fritz drove in four runs on the day alone. Dave Brehm also had a multi-hit game with two hits including an RBI and a run scored. Kenny Daley, Anthony Vaglica, Tom Asbaty, Kyle Fagan, and Matt Bowers had hits in the game as well.
Brian Kavanagh had trouble this time out allowing five runs on seven hits in only three innings. The bullpen for LIU Post locked it down for the rest of the game despite the rough start. Mike Stiles who ended up with the victory went two innings only allowing a hit, Pat McCabe threw a perfect inning in his appearance, and Greg Haynes threw another perfect inning directly after that. Pitching definitely contributed heavily in this victory.
LIU Post will look for the four game sweep of Mercy on Sunday.
