by Joseph Curto
Long Beach scores 8 in the bottom of the 7th to defeat Mepham 12-11! John Farina comes through the game winning hit and also earns the W on the mound pic.twitter.com/xQrWBfIsJ0
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2021
Just a day ago, the Mepham Pirates hosted the Long Beach Marines and took care of them by scoring 15 runs and holding their offense to just three runs. What a difference a day can make.
The Long Beach Marines played host to the Mepham Pirates and offered one of the most exciting games of the day. The game featured a pair of junior right handers facing off against one another. Connor Nooney had the ball for Long Beach, and Aidan Amato got the ball for Mepham.
The game was scoreless till the top of the third when Pirate’s leadoff man Charlie Leo reached base on a walk. One batter later he was brought home by Bucknell-commit Tyler O’Neill when he connected on an RBI single. Marines’ pitcher Connor Nooney was able to get out of the jam and close the door on any further damage.
The Marines quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore outfielder Jake Scafa launched a 2-run home run over the left field fence to give Long Beach the 2-1 lead. The younger Scafa is the son of former St. Johns’ student athlete, and New York Yankees draft pick Steve Scafa.
Just an inning later in the bottom of the 4th, senior outfielder Gehrig Lundwall brought home Nooney with an RBI single to push the Long Beach lead to 3-1.
In the top of the 5th inning, Nooney allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach, and he was pulled in favor of Scafa. The sophomore lefty appeared to struggle with his command and Mepham took advantage. The Pirates pulled the right strings and put in pinch hitter Thomas Coyne and he connected with an RBI single. Following Coyne, Jack Davilla ripped an RBI single to right to further the lead. The Pirates took advantage of a few errors and walks, and they responded with timely hitting. After Scafa was pulled, with Mepham leading 5 to 3, John Farina came on in to pitch and was quickly greeted with a bases-clearing double from Leo to make the score 9-3. After Leo’s hard hit, Farina was able to stop the bleeding for the Marines and get out of the inning.
With the Pirates now up 9-3, they threw out hard-throwing lefty Jack Davila and he was able to hold off Long Beach for the next two innings. Over the next two frames, Mepham plated two more runs off Farina giving them a comfortable 11-4 lead. Heading into the bottom of the 7th, the Long Beach bats woke up and showed why you never give up.
After a pitching change to start the inning for Mepham, they quickly allowed Long Beach to load the bases on a couple walks and a single. The Pirates made Mepham pay for the mistakes and quickly had the game within reach. Long Beach connected for five hits in the inning and The Marines batted around and tied the game up at 11. With two outs and the bases loaded, John Farina ripped the game winning RBI single to left field to pull off the upset. The Marines scored eight times in the bottom of the 7th to walk it off.
Farina was able to pick up the Win, as he led the Marines to a huge 12-11 win for Long Beach.
The talented Mepham team, who are led by Billy Kender and Tyler O’Neill look to bounce back on Thursday when they take on Great Neck South.
As for Long Beach, the young team who are led by Jake Scafa look to build off the win as they take on New Hyde Park on Thursday.
