Austin Vlahakis talks about how he worked his way out of a 7th inning jam to propel his team to victory. pic.twitter.com/cvmtqjvbPD
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 4, 2019
On Thursday afternoon, Oceanside survived a late inning surge from Garden City, as they escaped with a 5-4 victory.
In the opening frame of the game, Oceanside led things off with back-to-back-to-back doubles from Jake Lazzaro, Noah Eisel and Austin Vlahakis. The string of three doubles provided the Sailors with a quick 3-0 lead.
Eisel came through again in the early innings for Oceanside as he launched a solo shot, providing them with a four-run lead in the 2nd inning. He finished 2-for4 on the day and also got the start on the mound, pitching 4.1 innings allowing one earned run.
When the Oceanside bats went cold, the Garden City bats began to wake up. Andrew Zupicich got the Trojans on the board in the bottom of the 4th with an RBI double. This began the chain of runs in three consecutive frames for Garden City.
Paul Varano cut the deficit in half with an RBI on an infield single. However, Garden City would leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the 5th.
Then came the 6th inning.
Owen Ascher jump started the Garden City rally by launching a solo shot to right center. After stringing together a few hits, Jake Fraher stepped up to the plate with a runner on second and two outs. When his team needed him most, he delivered. All of a sudden, the Oceanside lead vanished and it was a tie ballgame.
After surrendering a four-run lead, Oceanside wasn’t ready to surrender just yet. With the bases loaded and one out, the Sailors knew they needed just one run to take the lead. The aggression from Head Coach Mike Postillo paid off as he called for a suicide squeeze with Tyler Zanghi and he delivered, bringing in Leo Alvarez.
With a one run lead, Austin Vlahakis came into close it out. Garden City threatened with runners on first and second, but Vlahakis shut the door and secured the thrilling victory.
“I came into the last inning trying to throw strikes, I’m not usually pitching but it’s what I was trying to do just get as many out as possible and throw strikes,” said Vlahakis. “This win means a lot to us but we’re really just excited for conference play and hopefully playoffs,” he added.
Heading into conference play, Oceanside and Garden City are both expected to be contenders in their respective conferences. Oceanside opens up against Farmingdale on Monday, while Garden City opens up against Manhasset.
