For the first time since 2010, Centereach has captured the League 3 Title. They clinched a share, pending the results of Smithtown East-Hills East game pic.twitter.com/hEjY5eNbBz
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024
All season long, Centereach has prided itself on never being out of games and being able to fight back and win games. They proved their mettle today against rival Newfield, as they overcame a 2-0 deficit in the sixth inning to win 7-3 in extra innings.
With the victory, they guaranteed they will be at least Co-League Champs along with Smithtown East – as they are 1 game ahead with 2 games to go. It’s their first League Championship since 2010, but they did reach the postseason in 2022.
It was really a tale of 2 games, with the first five innings absolutely flying. Centereach sent senior RHP Logan Norman to the hill, who has a strong case at being the League MVP. Norman has a 1.332 OPS and a 1.30 ERA on the season. He was opposed by sophomore Brandon Seddio.
Neither team’s bats mustered much of anything in the early going.
Newfield got on the board in the second inning on an RBI double by Tommy Barone which scored Jayden Ramirez and give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
After a wild pitch sent Seddio to third with one out, Newfield attempted a suicide squeeze but it was popped up and caught by Norman who converted the easy inning ending double play. It turned out to be a significant moment in the game, because the Newfield offense did not give their starter any breathing room.
End of 2: Norman catches a bunt on an attempted suicide squeeze and turns it into an inning ending DP.
Newfield 1, Centereach 0 pic.twitter.com/jRfTKIpIer
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024
It was Seddio who helped himself with an RBI double to left center field in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 2-0.
Things were not looking good for the Cougars, who certainly did not want to be in a dead heat for 1st place with 2 games remaining.
Speaking after the game, Logan Norman said, “There’s no quit in these guys. We’re going all the way. They never get down, we never get down,” he said.
End of 5: Brandon Seddio helps himself with a 2-out RBI double
Newfield 2, Centereach 0 pic.twitter.com/C3Dx9e66CW
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024
The bats finally woke up in the top of the sixth and the rally was started with a hustle infield single by Nick Scraper who beat the pitcher to the mound, diving head first to beat the tag. It may have seemed insignificant at the moment, but it appeared to inject some life into the Centereach faithful. What followed next was a strange sequence as Anthony Gagliardi smoked what appeared to be an RBI double to deep left field to score Scraper, and he went to third on the throw. There’s no fence at Newfield, and the umpires ruled that the ball became out of play when it struck a box out on the softball field in left field. The run was taken off the board and Gagliardi sent back to second. Centereach coach Pete Cammarata was irate and argued the call vehemently. It turned out to be irrelevant as both runners wound up scoring on sac flies by Sal Gangi and and Joe DeSantis. Rocco Panaro grounded out to end the inning and keep the score tied 2-2.
Mid 6: Centereach’s bats came to life and they tied up the game at 2-2. Both runs scored on sac flies pic.twitter.com/zM9VWfW1Uj
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024
In the home half of the sixth, Newfield wound up regaining the lead. After Matt Hesselbirg struck out for the first out, Dylan Alberto hit a routine fly ball to left that was simply dropped by the left fielder and put the runner in scoring position. After a strikeout for the second out, Tommy Barone laced an RBI single to right field to regain the lead, 3-2.
Once again, Centereach had their backs up against the wall as they were down to their final 3 outs. That number dwindled to one as the first two batters were retired with ease. Nick Scraper came through again with a two-out single to right field to give the Cougars up. Scraper stole second to get himself into scoring position, which proved to be huge. It was Gagliardi again, who ripped a game-tying RBI single to right field to knot the game up at 3-3. It was an impressive show of resiliency for the Cougars to come back from two different late inning deficits. Sal Gangi flew out to left field for the third out of the inning.
Mid 7: We have a tie game again! Anthony Gagliardi goes the other way with a 2-out single and the game is 3-3 pic.twitter.com/lClv1O5ucS
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024
Norman went back out for the seventh, and he did his job. He struck out two batters, stranding Brandon Seddio after he was hit by a pitch with two outs.
In the top half of the eighth, Seddio was removed after issuing a leadoff walk to Logan Norman. Needing to get himself into scoring position, Norman was able to advance on a wild pitch and stole third, despite being picked off – he just beat the throw to third. Josh Ortiz, the shortstop for the Cougars that will be attending St. Thomas Aquinas in the fall, ripped an RBI single to right field to score Norman and give Centereach the 4-3 lead.
Top 8: Josh Ortiz gives Centereach their first lead of the game with an RBI single to right
Centereach 4, Newfield 3 pic.twitter.com/ow7KzjsFNX
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024
They continued to tack on – adding three more runs thanks to an RBI single by Michael Buonagura and a two-run error to make it 7-3.
Working with a four-run lead, reliever Michael Meahan did his job – firing a 1-2-3 inning against the heart of the Wolverines lineup to slam the door and send his team into a dog pile near the mound.
Centereach improves to 12-5 on the season. Smithtown East can force a virtual tie if they win their last game and Centereach loses one.
It’s their last League 3 Title since winning back-to-back titles in 2009-10. Logan Norman is vying to become Centereach’s first League MVP since (me) 2009.
