Nick Blette breaks down his clutch, 2 RBI double to seal a comeback victory for Oceanside. pic.twitter.com/6fiwaVJB2Z
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2024
by Tucker Terranova
Photo Credit: Catherine Scarantino
In the electrifying kickoff to their best-of-three showdown, the No. 7 Oceanside Sailors and the No. 2 Plainview JFK Hawks clashed in a game for the ages, culminating with Hofstra-commit Mike D’Ambrosio launching a walk-off home run that cleared the left field fence with ease, propelling Plainview to a crucial 7-6 victory and sending Oceanside to the brink of elimination.
Following Monday’s instant classic, the two teams collided once more for Game 2, this time at Oceanside High School with even higher stakes.
For Oceanside, the objective was clear-cut: win, and you force a winner-takes-all Game 3 where anything can happen.
Today’s matchup was the tale of two ballgames, as Plainview held a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, and Oceanside had only been able to muster a single hit off of Plainview starter Peter Bounougias. However, Oceanside orchestrated a late-inning, five-run comeback capped off by Nick Blette’s clutch 2 RBI double, pulling off an epic comeback and forcing a Game 3 with a hard-fought 5-3 win.
Looking to sustain the momentum from Monday’s win, Ryan Kurre got the party started for Plainview in the bottom of the first with a picture-perfect bunt single before advancing on an overthrow. With a runner on second and two outs, Bounougias helped himself, crushing Pat Pallentino’s offering to the right-center field fence for an RBI double, giving the Hawks an early 1-0 lead.
The Hawks weren’t done there, as Logan McGrath and Anthony Powers provided base hits to lead off the second inning. However, just when it looked like Plainview would add some early insurance, Pallentino locked in, striking out Phillip Pirozi and retiring Kurre to get out of the jam and providing a much-needed momentum shift to the third base dugout.
The top of the fifth inning provided another opportunity for the Hawks’ offense to add some insurance, as Kurre led off the inning with a single up the middle before swiping second and third. Georgia Tech commit Sebastian Lippman came up to the plate with a chance to do damage and ripped a line drive up the middle for the Hawks’ 2nd run of the afternoon. Bounougias added to the fun, crushing a sacrifice fly to the right-field warning track to drive Lippman home, giving the Hawks a 3-0 advantage two innings away from advancing.
The Sailors got a rally going in the bottom of the fifth after Blette walked and swiped second to bring up Kyle Scheurer. Scheurer got Oceanside on the board, smashing Bounougias’ offering into the right-field gap for an RBI single, bringing Sailors’ deficit to 2 runs.
Only six outs away from an early end to their season, the Sailors’ offense erupted.
Luke Villella kicked off the rally by ripping a single up the middle to open the sixth inning and Spencer Heltzer walked, forcing Plainview to call upon Josh Kim to neutralize the damage. After Pallentino helped his cause with an RBI double, eighth-grader Matt Vlahakis ripped a seeing-eye single to give the Sailors new life and tie the ballgame at 3.
Bottom 6: Plainview JFK 3 | Oceanside 5
Nick Blette crushes a 2 RBI double and Sailors have came all the way back. pic.twitter.com/7jZ4NREy1x
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2024
With runners on the corners, Blette came to the plate with an opportunity every youth baseball player dreams of. 3-2 count, tie ballgame, and the season relies on you.
He delivered, crushing a 2 RBI double and giving Oceanside a 5-3 advantage heading into the 7th.
“It felt great,” Blette said in a postgame interview with Axcess Baseball. “3-2 count, I was trying to put the ball in play and got a good swing on it.”
Dylan Beirne came on for the seventh and navigated the inning successfully, recording the save and closing out a huge victory for Oceanside.
On the heels of elimination, Pallentino delivered for the Sailors. The southpaw gave Oceanside six innings of work, allowing three runs on eight hits, striking out five, and issuing one free pass on his way to the win.
The two squads will meet again for a winner-take-all Game 3 at Plainview tomorrow.
