Our @DigmiNation Players of the Game are Jake Krzemienski and James Cardinale following Commack’s 4-1 victory. They will look to end West Islip’s 17-game win streak tomorrow pic.twitter.com/UrN4lABQU5
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2018
No. 3 Commack put up four runs in the first inning against Southern New Hampshire-commit Danny Owens and received a lights-out performance from LHP Jake Krzemienski, to defeat No. 6 Longwood, 4-1, to advance to the semifinals of Suffolk AA playoffs tomorrow against No. 2 West Islip.
It was one of those days that when an opposing team had one opportunity to capitalize when a dominant pitcher was in a jam. That occurred in the top of the fourth with Longwood threatening against Commack ace Krzemienski. The red-hot Kyle Rausch smacked his 9th hit of the postseason and advance to third on a single by Jarred Vanderhoof. The Lions had the potential-tying run at the plate with none out with plenty of baseball to play.
Commack’s southpaw dug deep and showed why he now has six wins this season against only one loss. He struck out his counterpart, Owens, as well as Jared Sciarrino before ending the jam with a harmless ground out to second base.
He kicked it into another gear in the later innings, firing a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, worked around another single to Vanderhoof in the sixth and a 1-2-3 in the seventh with his 14th and final strikeout coming with one out. It was a dynamic performance from a pitcher that has risen his stock significantly this season as the workhorse of one of the premier teams on the island.
Commack got off to a quick start in this one. After the leadoff batter was retired, Tim McHugh drew a one-out walk and stole second base. He scored on an RBI single by Krzemienski, who ripped a single to center. Sean Coveny just missed an opposite-field HR, but settled for a double which set up James Cardinale‘s two-run single to right field to extend the lead to 3-0. Dave Massa opened it up to 4-0 with an RBI single of his own to score Coveny.
Owens was dominant after that, showing great command of his 68 MPH curveball and a low 80s fastball. He allowed only two runners to reach scoring position the rest of the game.
Final: Commack 4, Longwood 1
WP: Jake Krzemienski (CG, 1 R, 5 H, 14 K, 0 BB)The Cougars advance to face West Islip tomorrow in the semifinals pic.twitter.com/950NTtZyJW
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2018
Longwood’s run came in the third inning on consecutive doubles by Matt Encizo and Jose Matos to get within striking distance.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the bag for the Lions. The League 1 champs had a very impressive season following a three-win campaign. They went 18-6 an turned plenty of heads. They are also set up well for next season with the dangerous Kyle Rausch leading the offensive attack. Few players put on a better postseason showing than him, his go-ahead 3-R HR against Hills East last week was just a prelude to his go-ahead RBI triple against Commack the other day.
For Commack, they will have their hands full with West Islip. This is a premier match up, a rematch of last year’s Class AA Finals which resulted in the Cougars’ first county championship in 20 years. They will likely send Cardinale to the mound, who pitched last year against them in Game 2 but struggled. They will be looking to halt West Islip’s 17-game win streak which dates back to April 10 against Centereach.
It promises to be a wildly-entertaining series. The key for Commack will be how to contain the dynamic duo of Jake Guercio and Anthony Ippolito and West Islip will have to pick their poison with dealing with McHugh, Krzemienski or Coveny in the middle of the order. The Cougars will need to continue getting production from the likes of Joe Pellegrino, Dave Massa, Drew Silverman and Pat McNelis in order to prevent the Lions from simply intentionally walking McHugh.
