Massapequa Edges Oceanside In Crucial Game One Victory

Year in year out, when Massapequa plays Oceanside in playoffs it’s never as good as advertised, it’s better.

On Saturday afternoon, Massapequa squeaked by Oceanside by a score of 6-5 to capture the game one victory. They’re now one win away from repeating as county champions in consecutive years.

Earlier in the season when these two teams played, Oceanside flat out embarrassed Massapequa in game one of the series as they won by a score of 13-0. However, this wasn’t the case yesterday.

Oceanside jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of a Leo Alvarez RBI. He finished the day cashing in all 5 RBI for Oceanside.

In the first inning, it seemed as if Brendan McFall was going to shut out Massapequa once again, as he struck out the first three batters of the game. Fast forward an inning and suddenly it was a 3-1 ballgame in Massapequa’s favor.

Heading into the 4th with a score of 3-2, there was no telling to who might win this game, as both teams seemed to have an equal amount of fire power and energy.

Enter Travis Honeyman.

Honeyman came off the bench with two runners in scoring position and delivered. He ripped a double down the 3rd base line to give Massapequa a 5-2 lead, providing them with a significant amount of momentum.

Travis Honeyman talks about his pinch hit 2RBI single that gave Massapequa a 5-3 cushion in the 4th inning. pic.twitter.com/4BkvhnVR8M

— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 26, 2018

“Coach put me in a big spot to pinch hit, we tried to get the job done for the team, we succeded and we’re going to bring it into tomorrow,” said Honeyman.

In the 5th inning, Alvarez came through once again with his 3rd RBI of the day to narrow the deficit to 5-3. With the tying run on base, Dylan Judd stepped up to the plate. Judd was set down on strikes due to a controversial call in which he check swung, but the ball hit him. After arguing on both sides, the umpires concluded he was out and the Chiefs escaped the inning.

Although Oceanside threatened to sneak back into the ballgame on numerous occasions, the Massapequa offense wouldn’t stop stringing hits together. In the top half of the 7th, Nick Schwartz cashed in with an RBI, extending the lead to 6-3. This RBI served a crucial run, as it was the cushion they needed.

As expected, Oceanside wouldn’t go down without a fight. In the 6th inning, Mike Grisanti entered out of the bullpen in a tremendous situation once again. He escaped the jam and headed back out for the 7th. To begin the last licks, Oceanside put runners on first and second with nobody out.

Similar to last week against Plainview, Grisanti settled down when it mattered most. He would get two more outs he needed, but had Leo Alvarez standing in his way. Alvarez who already had three RBI on the day, would once again come through driving in two on a double, placing the tying run on second. An intentional walk later, and the winning run was placed on first.

Chris Siklas, who has a batting average of over .500 on the season, had a chance to walk it off for the Sailors. Unfortunately for Oceanside, this wasn’t the case as Grisanti was able to get Siklas to ground out and secure the victory.

“It was definitely a roller coaster, I came in with a runner on first, and ended up walking the first guy which is never good, and you know one hit after the next and suddenly it’s a one run game. At that point I definitely had to bear down and get us game one of this county finals,” said Grisanti. “We just have to go out, attack these hitters and throw strikes. They’re good hitters but we’re really good pitchers too so we’re feeling confident and ready to take this series,” he added.

With the victory, Massapequa is now one win away from being back-to-back county champions. Game two of the county championship is set for Sunday afternoon at 4PM, however there’s expected to be rain.