Chris Siklas is our @BsbLifestyle101 player of the game after giving his team the lead in the top of the 7th. He finished with three hits & 3RBI. pic.twitter.com/CPe1GF7wHW
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 30, 2019
Every time Massapequa and Oceanside meet, it’s always a treat. As predicted, Tuesday afternoon’s game did not disappoint by any means.
In a game for the ages, Oceanside topped Massapequa by a score of 7-6 to take game two of the series. This wasn’t a normal win by any means for Oceanside, this was the result of a hard fought battle.
After suffering a tough loss on Monday, the Sailors wasted no time getting runs on the board.
In the opening frame of the game, Austin Vlahakis started the Oceanside rally with an RBI single to left field. The next batter, Chris Siklas, drove a monster two-run home run over the left field fence. In the blink of an eye, Oceanside led 3-0.
If we’ve learned one thing, it’s to never count Massapequa out. Sure enough, Wade Kelly answered the early Oceanside rally right away, launching a lead off solo home run. However, Noah Eisel got the next three batters to strike out.
On the mound, Eisel often found himself in jams, but continued to work out of them.
In the bottom of the 2nd, two walks and a base hit gave Massapequa the bases loaded with nobody out. With danger surrounding him, Eisel fanned three batters in a row to get out of the inning unharmed. He finished going four innings allowing three hits, one earned run, six walks and eight strike outs.
Only holding a two-run lead, Oceanside knew they needed to tack on more. In the bottom of the 3rd, Leo Alvarez annihilated a two-run home run, providing the Sailors with a four-run lead.
As they did all game, Massapequa continued to threaten when they were trailing. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 4th, Travis Honeyman smoked a deep line drive to right field, but was robbed by Matt Ciociano on a Willy Mays-type of catch. This for sure would’ve cleared the bases and made it a one run game.
Massapequa’s chances of a comeback began to dwindle, as they found themselves down to their final five outs of the ballgame in the bottom of the 6th. With that being said, this game was not over by any means.
With two runners in scoring position and two outs, Nick Schwartz delivered a 2RBI double to narrow the deficit to two runs. The next batter, Travis Honeyman, drove in Schwartz with an RBI single up the middle. Suddenly, this was a one run ballgame.
A Chris DeSousa double and a Johnny Castagnozzi walk meant the tying run was just 90 feet away. With a full count, bases loaded and two outs, Joe Reda drew a walk, forcing in a run and knotting the game up at 5-5. One batter later, Danny Sohn drove a single to the left side of the infield that forced in the go-ahead run.
The five-run bottom half of the 6th changed the entire complex of this game, as Massapequa was now three outs away from completing the remarkable comeback victory.
‘Not so fast,’ said the top of the Oceanside lineup.
Jake Lazzaro got the Sailors rally started with a one-out walk. A stolen base and passed ball later but him 90 feet away from scoring the tying run. Noah Eisel displayed the ice in his veins, as he lined an RBI single up the middle. Once again this game was tied.
A single by Austin Vlahakis put Eisel, the go-ahead run, on third base with Chris Siklas coming to the plate. Siklas knew exactly what he had to do, and he answered, delivering the go-ahead RBI on a sacrifice fly to right field.
“Today we were facing Massapequa after a tough loss yesterday, we came out swinging at first pitch fastballs. We got down on the lead late in the game but we came back, I had a sac fly to right field I was just trying to put the ball in the outfield,” said Siklas.
Vlahakis entered the 7th inning to shut the door for Oceanside. He did just that, recording the three-out save and securing the crucial game two victory of the series.
With the victory, both teams now stand at 9-2 on the season. The rubber match for first place in the conference will take place on Thursday night at Burns Park in Massapequa.
