Diez fans Buchan to end it ! Division wins 6-4 and will face Wantagh for the Nassau Class A championship on Saturday ! pic.twitter.com/pHKo9zWlFj
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 24, 2018
Colin Diez came on in relief during the fourth inning, wound up pitching the final 3.2 innings including a strikeout to end the ballgame in a 6-4 victory over rival MacArthur and send Division into the Nassau County Class A finals against Wantagh; a rematch of 2010.
“We want revenge–we want it,” Diez said moments after he fanned Brandon Buchan to record the final out. It was Buchan who was lights-out in Monday’s 9-0 victory for MacArthur that put Division on the brink of elimination but they bounced back with consecutive victories with their backs firmly against the wall to advance to the finals, looking for their first county championship since 2015.
Our @DigmiNation Player of the Game is Colin Diez who came in during the fourth inning and pitched the remaining 3.2 to record the victory to send Division to the county championship pic.twitter.com/GbpTnmukmw
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 24, 2018
The atmosphere of this game was incredible; but not atypical from what you would expect from this rivalry. The Battle of Levittown was revitalized last year for the first time in 17 with MacArthur coming out on top in the playoff victory. This game was even more intense with the rubber game of a three-game set and a date with history on the line. The newly-renovated bleachers were completely packed with roughly 700-800 people which caused a new crowd to form in the outfield of another 100-200 people. With every big moment, an eruption occurred in the stands. This is not your typical crosstown rivalry; these are two baseball powerhouses in a fertile ground for baseball talent.
This game certainly did not lack in action, as Division put runners in scoring position in every inning. They did squander an opportunity, however, in the first inning as they loaded up the bases against Joe Ricciardi with one out, but Nick Fressle fanned and Robert Bradley ground out to shortstop unassisted.
The Blue Dragons took the lead in the home half of the second inning thanks to some shoddy defense. With two outs and nobody on, Colin Diez lofted a routine pop up to third base that was simply dropped. The following batter, Matt Cavanagh was hit by a pitch setting the stage for second baseman James Horodecki. He lunged out over the plate and served a two-run triple down the right field line to give Division a 2-0 lead.
Jake Thomas, Division’s starting pitcher, fired scoreless innings in the first two frames but ran into trouble in the third inning.
The big right-handed pitcher walked the leadoff batter, hit Joe Apollo and allowed a sacrifice fly to NYIT-commit Joe Keller. He ended the threat with a strikeout, but the feeling was that this game was indeed far from over.
Ricciardi worked around a two-out double by Jake Thomas to fire a scoreless third inning and let his bats go to work in the fourth.
He started the inning off with a single to center field and advanced to third on a double by Peter Zielinski. Ryan Wall drove in Ricciardi with an RBI groundout to tie the game, 2-2. After Liam Shannon was hit by a pitch, Diez was called upon to put out a major fire with the Generals threatening to put up a huge inning. Diaz was able to limit the damage, allowing a run to score on an RBI groundout by Jason Tramontana and another on a errant throw by the third baseman.
At that moment, MacArthur was leading 4-2 but Division had no interest in waving the white flag.
They answered back emphatically with a three-spot if their own in the fourth inning. After Diez was retired to begin the inning, Cavanagh drew a one-out walk, Horodecki smacked another single and Hunter Traenkle made it hurt with a two-run double to left-center field to tie the game. After Jayson Melgar singled to center, Nick Fressle gave them the lead with a huge RBI single through the left side to make it 5-4 in favor of Division.
In the top of the fifth, a crucial moment occurred after a leadoff HBP of Brandon Buchan. The following batter, Ricciardi, hit into a force play and stole second to get himself into scoring position. A ground out to shortstop moved him to third, just 90 feet away as the tying run. Diaz, however, caught him napping and executed the rare pick-off at third–especially by a left-handed pitcher.
The next couple innings were more style than substance with Division adding the only other run, on an RBI single by Robert Bradley to right field.
Diaz went back out for the seventh inning. Of course, MacArthur didn’t roll over as Justin DeMaria ripped a one-out single to left field but Diez proved his mettle with an infield pop out and a strikeout of the three and four hitters to seal the deal.
It was truly an enjoyable setting. Not a cloud in the sky, two fiercely-competitive teams led by brilliant head coach. For Division, Coach Tom Tuttle has built a powerhouse and will look to build on his resumè. He won consecutive county championships in 2014-’15 and also won in 2011. This series would not only add to that list but also mean they would thwart Wantagh’s attempt at a third consecutive title.
Stay tuned to the series beginning Saturday.
