Jack Coogan went 3-for-3 with 2 triples, 2 walks and 3 RBIs as LuHi captured their second straight PSAA Championship with a 15-2 victory (plus ice shower) pic.twitter.com/ysaKn40t7K
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 12, 2022
Big time players step up in big games and that’s exactly what LuHi senior Jack Coogan did in the PSAA Championship against Portledge. The Molloy-commit was the best player on the field – going 3-for-3 with two triples, three RBIs and two walks.
The Crusaders won by the score of 15-2, capturing their second straight PSAA title.
They jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Tommy Bressmer started things off with a leadoff double and he scored on Coogan’s long RBI triple to left field. The next batter was catcher Alex Pelaez who scored Coogan with an RBI single to make it 2-0. After a walk issued to Ivan Epps, Marcus Harrison followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0 in favor of LuHi.
To their credit, Portledge did manage to creep back into the game.
After starting pitcher Christian Sabatino fired up zeros in the second and third innings, his offense quietly snuck back in the third inning. After a singly by Sebastian Garvey and a walk drawn by Jordan Meirowitz, Dom Bracco crushed a two-run double to make it 4-2 and briefly put a scare into the Crusader.
That was as close as they’d get unfortunately.
Portledge went down 1-2-3 in the third inning against reliever Mike Malherb – who struck out the side and they watched the Crusaders explode in the fifth inning for 11 runs which made it a run-rule situation. It was combination of hits and errors that ultimately broke the game open. Coogen delivered the knock out punch with a two-run single to make it 9-2 and effectively put the game out of reach. Ivan Epps also added an RBI double in the inning.
Following the game, Coogan spoke about how they knew they were the best team in the league so they weren’t surprised by winning it all. He was treated to an ice shower by his teammates during the interview.
Coogan will be headed to Molloy in the fall, they got themselves a special player.
