Stop me if you’ve heard this before–Old Westbury advances to face Farmingdale State in the Skyline Conference Finals.
For the first time since 2015, but as they did every year from 2010-2015 the Rams and Panthers will square off the right to the capture the Skyline Conference Championship.
The Panthers took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Shaun Kaminski in the bottom of the first, but the Mariners answered back on an RBI single by Garrett Reddeck.
Brandon Wilson, one of the stars of the game, laced an RBI single to center to score Sean Paprocki to give the Panthers the 2-1 lead in the second, but Reddeck’s second RBI single of the game tied it back up at 2-2 against Panthers starter Adam Heidenfelder.
In the top of the fifth, the Mariners showcased their speed when Alex Mesaros hit a shallow pop up to short right field that was caught by the second baseman but it didn’t stop Vincenzo Alteri from scoring to give USMMA a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers flexed their muscles.
Shortstop Mike Manetta crushed a two-run double to left center field to score Sean Paprocki and Michael Borsch to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead. They added to their lead on a fielder’s choice off the bat of John Condon. Manetta’s speed was the difference as he beat the throw even with the drawn in infield.
In the top of the seventh, the Marines inched closer on an RBI infield single by Matt Mundorf but once Joe Sarni came on in relief, he put out the fire and kept USMMA at bay.
He wound up firing 3.1 innings of relief, striking out five and walking none.
The Panthers added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to increase their lead to 8-4, but it was more than enough for Sarni who slammed the door for the Panthers and punching their ticket to the Conference Finals.
They will need to beat the Rams twice to win. The first game will begin at 4pm, if there is a second game it would begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
