by Brett Goldstein
Rocky Point is your Class A Suffolk County Champions! They win by a final score of 7-3. pic.twitter.com/4wg8Sn1vpt
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 29, 2018
For the first time in program history, the Rocky Point Eagle are Suffolk County Class A Champions.
Upon first glance, it seemed as if it may be a low-scoring affair, possibly a pitchers’ duel. Shoreham was sending LIU Brooklyn-commit, Ryan Mullahey, to the mound, and Rocky Point was sending Rob Milopsky to the hill. However, it was not a pitchers’ duel, ending in a Rocky Point victory with a score of 7-3.
Senior second baseman John Rosman has been a valuable contributor to the Eagles offense as of late. He opened up the scoring in the second inning, when he hit a double to drive in Trey Miller.
On his recent success, Rosman said, “Coach Solomeno helped me out with my swing a lot. We did a lot of mechanic tweaking, and it’s really helped me out the last couple of games.”
The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the second, when Ryan Callahan hit a soft ground ball back to Mullahey. He wasn’t able to field it cleanly, and Callahan beat the throw to first, allowing Rosman and Dillon Cassidy to score, extending the Rocky Point lead to 3-0.
Shoreham chipped away at the Rocky Point lead in the fourth inning. Tyler Widercrantz hit a fly ball to left center field, which was unable to be handled by Trey Miller. For the first time, Milopsky appeared to be in trouble, having to work around a runner on second with no outs. He then got the following two batters on a strike out and pop out. Peter Minneci hit a hard ground ball to third base, and Milopsky looked to be out of trouble. However, Rocky Point third baseman Mike Gunning threw the ball away, and Widercrantz came around to score, reducing Rocky Point’s lead to 3-1.
Rocky Point bounced right back in the bottom half of the inning. Rosman worked a walk, and found himself on third base with Joe Grillo at the plate. Grillo hit a ground ball to first baseman, TJ Wachter. Wachter threw to home, trying to prevent the run from scoring. The throw beat Rosman, however, he evaded the tag with a nice slide to give the Eagles a 4-1 lead.
Rosman said “It’s just aggressive baserunning. It’s about putting runs on the board early, and making them count.” The Eagles surely made that one count, as it stood to be the eventual winning run.
In the fifth inning the Eagles tacked on another run for insurance. A leadoff walk by Alexander Bonacci, followed by a single by Miilopsky put runners on first and second with no outs. A sacrifice bunt by Miller advanced both runners into scoring position. Ryan Maciaszek then successfully executed a safety squeeze, bringing Bonacci in from third.
Milopsky seemed to be cruising along, getting two quick outs in the top of the sixth. Then Mike Smith hit a pinch hit home run to center field. Mason Kelly followed it up with a homer of his own to left field, to cut Shoreham’s deficit in half.
The Eagles still had more in the tank offensively, further padding their lead in the bottom half of the sixth. Cassidy led off with a single to left field, and Grillo ripped a double to right field to drive him in. Grillo later came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Gunning. The Eagles were heading to the seventh inning with a 7-3 lead.
Milopsky took the mound again in the top of the seventh, looking to get three more outs to secure the championship for his team. He worked around a leadoff single to retire the next three batters, the final out coming via a ground ball to third base. Milopsky posted a strong line on the day; seven strikeouts through seven innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits and a walk.
As for what he had working for him, Milopsky said, “My curveball was there. The velocity of the fastball was there, everything was working.”
The Eagles were ecstatic about their victory, which resulted in the first county championship in program history. Regarding their victory, senior Ryan Callahan said “It’s all I’ve ever wanted, I’ve been dreaming about this since I was eight years old”.
Milopsky felt similarly, saying “It feels great. We know we’re the only team to do it on this field. It just feels amazing.”
On what exactly it is that allowed the Rocky Point team to be successful, head coach Andrew Aschettino said “They are relentless and selfless. They are a talented group who gets it”, adding on that he is “so proud of them.” On how it feels to win his first county title, Aschettino replied that “It feels incredible. It’s been many years of hard work from so many players and coaches”. He further said, “I’m so happy for all the kids. They earned this”.
Following their victory, Rocky Point will move on to face Wantagh in the Long Island Championship. The game will take place on Saturday at 4 PM at St. Joseph’s.
