The Massapequa Chiefs are your
back-to-back Nassau County Class AA Champions!!FINAL: Massapequa 5 Oceanside 0
WP – Christian DeNave pic.twitter.com/mCPV1lFsnt— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2018
As we’ve learned in the past, the regular season means virtually nothing once you get into the postseason.
On Monday afternoon, Massapequa proved they were worthy of winning back-to-back championships as they prevailed to a 5-0 victory over Oceanside in game two of the Nassau County Class AA Championship.
For the third consecutive year, Massapequa swept Oceanside in the postseason after getting swept by them in the regular season. This time, it was for the county championship.
Similar to game one of the series, the Massapequa offense wasted no time getting to the vaunted rotation of Oceanside. The Chiefs began the game putting runners in scoring position, but ended up stranding them. In the third inning, Mike Grisanti capitalized with runners in scoring position as he hit a hard ground ball to the third baseman, which he had trouble handling. Although it didn’t get through for a hit, it provided Massapequa with an early 1-0 lead.
With the offensive threat the Chiefs provided, this made things easier for Christian DeNave on the mound. The senior went the distance, firing a four-hit shutout and secured his team another championship.
“I feel like it was a great, great outing from me and I feel like I was riding off the energy my teammates were giving me. We knew what we had to do when we got here today and we knew there was nothing that was going to stop us,” said DeNave.
Although DeNave threw a complete game shutout, it didn’t come easy by any means. Not only did Massapequa’s bats heat up at the right time, but their defense provided help as well.
In the top of the fourth inning, Oceanside put runners on first and second to start off the inning. However, this was quickly shut down. Wade Kelly made a spectacular play in right field, in which he doubled up the runner at first base.
From this point on, it was all Massapequa.
Building off the momentum from Kelly’s catch, Massapequa took advantage of the Oceanside deflation and delivered. In the blink of an eye, the Chiefs put up a four-spot in the bottom of the 4th inning, providing them with a 5-0 lead.
Judging from the atmosphere in the Oceanside dugout, there was no coming back from this.
For the final three innings of this ballgame, DeNave continued to dominate on the mound, and the Massapequa defense made every play they were supposed to. When it was all said and done, the Chiefs were champions once again.
Massapequa has now captured their second Nassau County Championship in a row, and looks to make it back-to-back Long Island Championships as well. They face West Islip on Saturday, 7PM at SUNY Old Westbury. Considering West Islip is riding a 21-game winning streak, this won’t be an easy task by any means. The two teams faced in the 2014 LIC with West Islip coming out on top, 2-1, behind senior ace Nick Arnold.
