Brock Murtha’s no-hitter sends Sayville to the N.Y. state championship for the first time in program history! pic.twitter.com/HOYA7iindr
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 9, 2019
If you watched the Class AA Long Island Championship earlier in the day at St. Joseph’s, you were fortunate to watch a game filled with high drama, intensity, scoring changing and ultimately, a three-peat.
The Class A Championship was just as intense but for the opposite reasons.
Brock Murtha, Notre Dame-commit and consensus top player in the 2020 class on Long Island, struck out nine in a no-hitter to deliver Sayville their first Class A LIC in program history. They defeated Clarke (23-3-1) by a score of 1-0 with the lone run scoring in the top of the seventh with two outs on an RBI single by Jack Davis.
The energy of the crowd told you everything you need to know about the magnitude of the situation. The Golden Flashes baseball team had never been in this situation while Clarke–led by Head Coach Tom Abruscato–have two New York State Class A Championships, reached it once again in 2009 and won the County Championship in 2013.
Brock Murtha fires a NO-HITTER in the Class A Long Island Championship to deliver Sayville their first title in program history ! pic.twitter.com/qVgK0Lh34S
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 9, 2019
They had their ace Brendan Turton on the hill. He has been outstanding all year as well and certainly has made a case to win the Diamond Award.
The difference turned out to be Murtha–the two-sport athlete that also stars on the gridiron–and his high-octane fastball. Despite walking two and hitting two batters, the Rams were unable to muster a hit.
The Golden Flashes (21-6-1), who lost their first playoff game and have run the table ever since (seven straight wins) will head up to Binghamton to face Ballston Spa (22-2) at Union-Endicott High School at 5pm on Friday. With their two aces ready (Eric Foster and Murtha), it’s hard to pick against them.
Sayville Head Coach Joe Esposito
On this episode, we are recording from East End Baseball Academy in Medford with Sayville Head Coach Joe Esposito. He just led the Golden Flashes to their first County Championship in program history after winning five consecutive playoff games. They will face Clarke in the Long Island Championship on Saturday night at SUNY Old Westbury. We discussed what it took to get the title this season, how he nearly won it 20 years ago as a player, his coaching stops along the way and why he encourages his athletes to play two sports.
