Postgame interview with Rocky Point HC Anthony Anzalone following their season opening 2-1 victory over East Islip pic.twitter.com/iASJHbpzTa
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 30, 2022
This was a game that I had circled on the calendar. The reigning Conference IV Long Island Champs on the road against one of the most talented teams in Suffolk. Both teams sending their hard-throwing southpaw ace to the hill.
Rocky Point came out on top, 2-1, in our Ken Kortright Agency Game of the Week led by their four Preseason All-Long Island Players. While baseball is a team sport, and Rocky Point certainly has talent all over the field, it doesn’t hurt to have four Division-I commits that all have varsity experience.
Carbone, the reigning League MVP squared off against Stony Brook-commit Nick Rizzo – who was the winning pitcher for the Redmen in the Suffolk County Championship last June against Harborfields. Rizzo is the consummate ace – works quick and throws strikes. Occasionally, those strikes can catch too much plate and that’s what happened in the first inning when Hofstra-commit Sean Hamilton turned on a high fastball and crushed it over the left field fence. It put Rocky Point up 1-0, and with these two pitchers on the mound there was no question it would be a low-scoring game.
Sean Hamilton crushes a solo shot to left and Rocky Point takes a 1-0 lead in the first pic.twitter.com/EBt12YelxF
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 30, 2022
Carbone, an uncommitted player who is likely to wind up at a Power 5 Div-I school, did his usual thing. He pitched five innings, allowed just a single to his counterpart to leadoff the fourth inning. Carbone worked around it with a line out to right field and a 3-6 inning ending double play.
Rocky Point’s second run scored in the third inning when Preseason Player of the Year, Cody Miller, ripped one that just narrowly got past the glove of the third baseman. Rocky Point put on a hit & run with Carbone up and he grounded out to third. With Miller running on the pitch, he was able to make a turn around second and attempt to head to third. The throw by the first baseman got away and allowed Miller to come around to score to make it 2-0.
Carbone worked around a hit by pitch of Rob Moore in the fifth inning to throw up another zero, but Rizzo did the same in the home half.
In the sixth, Coach Anzalone called on Miller from SS to come on in relief. He struggled with his command, walking the first three batters. He made the aggressive move to the bullpen, calling on another Division-I commit, Nic Benhardt, who is slated to start their next game. It worked to perfection, as Benhardt is a command specialist. He struck out the first batter, coaxed an RBI ground out to Miller at SS and escaped the jam on another ground out to short.
It was a huge pitch, and Anzalone noted that he went to him because he wanted the ball and it was a big moment. That is the benefit of having a plethora of high-end talent at the high school level.
Final: Rocky Point 2, East Islip 1
WP: Dom Carbone
S: Nic Benhardt pic.twitter.com/hE3IGbIn01— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 30, 2022
In the seventh inning, Benhardt went back out and worked around a leadoff error and a walk to strike out the final batter on a beautiful changeup leaving Rizzo on deck.
Game 2 of the series is scheduled to be played today at East Islip at 4:45, however, the forecast is calling for rain around that time. If it’s cancelled, the rest of the series would likely be Friday and Saturday.
