Massapequa holds on, 7-6, to win the Long Island Class AA Championship for the third consecutive season ! pic.twitter.com/KEF44EkuVo
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 8, 2019
Once again, Massapequa has done it. They are your back-to-back-to-back Class AA Long Island Champions. This time, they defeated Connetquot 7-6 in one of the best games of the year.
In a rather curious decision, neither team decided to throw their ace for the Long Island Championship.
Connetquot jumped on the board first in the bottom of the 2nd inning, thanks to a Jared Yalon RBI. Yalon came through once again for the Thunderbirds in the bottom of the 4th inning with a 2 RBI double. This put Connetquot in front 5-0.
When it seemed like Massapequa was down and out, they most certainly weren’t.
With the bottom of the order due up in the 5th inning, all Massapequa needed to do was get base runners to set the table for the top of the lineup. They did just that. With the bases loaded and two outs, Wade Kelly delivered a bases clearing triple, followed by a Nick Schwartz RBI double. In the blink of an eye, this was a one-run game.
Knowing they needed a larger cushion, Connetquot tacked on another in the bottom of the 5th, providing them with a two-run lead on an RBI double by Lucas Quinlan.
Much like they have all season, Massapequa came alive in the late innings.
Heading into the 6th inning, Massapequa’s bottom of the order came through again. Danny Sohn and Tyler Sohn both delivered RBIs, tying the game at 6-6.
After the Thunderbirds couldn’t scratch any more across in the bottom frame, it was evident Massapequa had momentum on their side.
Sure enough, Nick Schwartz came through again for the Chiefs, crushing a solo HR that gave his team the lead in the 7th inning.
“6-6 game I had the go-ahead home run here it was a great time I just do it for the team we have a lot of grit and we came back to win it. Got the bus ride back to Binghamton and hopefully we can take home the trophy we deserve,” said Schwartz.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, Connetquot loaded the bases with two outs and a chance to win it. Kenny Galvin entered to pitch and worked himself into one of the toughest situations you can imagine. 3-0 count, tying run on third and the bases loaded. Galvin was able to get two strikes in a row, followed by a fly out to end the game. Even the flyout was anxiety-inducing as much of the crowd gasped thinking it could be a walk-off hit.
As predicted by many before the season began, Massapequa was dog piling on home plate for the third consecutive year in the Long Island Championship.
With the victory, Massapequa isn’t done yet. They head to Binghamton next week where they look to defend their state title.
