Farmingdale grabs another shutout doubleheader to grab the regular season Skyline Conference Championship
Final: Farmingdale 6, Mount St. Mary 0
WP: Matt Constantine (7 IP, 0BB, 3 K) pic.twitter.com/JMd9dH0O4b
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 29, 2018
Farmingdale State secured the No. 1 seed in the Skyline Conference Tournament on Sunday, sweeping Mount St. Mary behind some dominating pitching with wins of 3-0 and 6-0.
Needing a sweep to come in first, the Rams turned to senior LHP David Otero Jr. in the first game and were rewarded with 6.2 scoreless innings and 3 strikeouts. With the win, his record improves to 4-1.
The Knights nearly scored first in the third inning after Jack Goodwin’s leadoff double. Nick Rizzo knocked a single into centerfield and Goodwin rounded third, heading for home before CF Brandon Ernest threw a laser to Kenneth Johntry for a gorgeous throw out.
“I fell behind a few times and they were putting pressure on me, but I had me defense behind me and I relied on them,” Otero said.
The game appeared to be a pitcher’s duel thereafter with Otero and Mount St. Mary RHP Keenan Blake both dealing.
The game would remain scoreless until LF Joseph Roche’s 2-run triple broke things open in the sixth inning. Roche scored promptly after a bunt-single from Shawn Blasberg. Roche finished game one going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Blake went 6 innings and allowed 3 earned runs, but suffered his first lost of the season as his record drops to 5-1.
Logan Hicks came on in relief for Otero for the final out in the seventh inning before giving way to Ryan Mallon, who allowed just one baserunner in two innings for his third save of the year.
After a few uncharacteristic outings for Otero in his last two starts, he said it “felt great” to have get his command right heading into conference tournament.
“Leading up to this game I put a lot of work in the gym to make sure I can get back into the flow of things,” Otero said. “I’m going to hopefully carry that into the playoffs.”
Game two saw the Rams seize the momentum early on, plating three runs on three infield hits and an error in the top of the first inning to give junior RHP Matt Constantine some immediate run support.
They added another run in the second when Ernie Geraci knocked home Tyler Schrimpf to extend the lead to 4-0.
With his teammates producing on the offensive end, Constantine went to work on MSMC hitters, tossing a complete game in 7 IP while striking out three and allowing no walks. Constantine got ahead in the count constantly and thoroughly dominated Mount St. Mary hitters, allowing just one runner to get into scoring position.
Farmingdale would add to their lead in the sixth when Anthony Gigante turned on the jets and scored from second base on an errant pickoff throw from the Knight’s catcher. As Gigante extended head-first to beat the diving tag, a wide smile on his face personified the team’s morale.
Ernest knocked in Nick Soriano on a single to center later in the sixth that brought the lead up to a commanding 6-0.
The Rams have now shut out opposing teams in an astounding 11 of their 22 wins, seven of which came in conference play.
“David and Matt have done it for us all year,” head coach Keith Osik said. “Going into the playoffs and jockeying for seeding, it’s always nice to get a bye. Hopefully they’ll continue that red-hot pitching.”
After the securing the win, the Rams will now host the conference tournament and receive a first-round bye in the double-elimination tourney taking place May 4-6. They will face the winner of Merchant Marines/Maritime on Friday.
