Final: Connetquot 4, Walt Whitman 0
WP: Nick Pepitone (CG shutout, 2 hits, 15 Ks, 3 BBs)Connetquot is moving on! They will face the loser of Commack-Sachem North on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/aN0VNGIuOG
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2024
With their backs against the wall, having lost their first playoff game on Friday (which leaked into Saturday when the game was suspended after 11 innings), Connetquot has rattled off wins in three straight elimination games to keep their championship hopes alive.
They defeated Smithtown East on Sunday and Longwood on Monday to set up a rematch against the upstart Walt Whitman Wildcats, who are buoyed by their impressive young talent.
Connetquot called up senior RHP Nick Pepitone, who took the hard luck no-decision on Friday when he struck out 10 over 8 shutout innings in what turned out to be a 5-0 loss in 12 innings. Pepitone, who is headed to Endicott College to play football, took the ball and absolutely dominated on 3 days rest to the tune of 15 strikeouts in a complete game two-hit shutout as the T-Birds won 4-0. With the win, they will face Sachem North on Wednesday, who lost to Commack on Tuesday, 3-1. The winner will advance to face Commack in the Suffolk County AAA Finals on Saturday.
Coach Rob Burger, had the following to say regarding the team’s epic week”
“To be honest, we were really upset after that marathon Whitman loss. We felt like we deserved better. Having to come back on Saturday hurt our pitching staff as we lost two pitchers for Saturday because of pitch counts. Our philosophy was simple; someone has to come out from the lower bracket. Why not us?”
With the situation being what it was, it called for an ace to step up help the rest of the team – specifically the pitching. Pepitone rose up against a talented offense and delivered a performance for the ages with his 15 strikeout gem. Additionally, fatigue was simply not a factor as he sat 85-87 all game.
“Nick has been electric. He’s our guy. He cemented his legacy today. To do what he’s done in his first two starts is nuts. He wanted the ball and wouldn’t let me take him out. Nick and I had a great conversation prior to the game today to make sure he was good. The kid is an absolute stud. Our guys love our staff and we feed off of them. Nick is our leader.”
The offense faced sophomore JD Duffy, who was making his first start of the season following an unfortunate back injury sustained early in the spring. He did a nice job keeping a potent offense at bay until the third inning, when the T-Birds broke through thanks to an infield hit by Jagger Adamo, followed by another soft grounder to short that was thrown away allowing Adamo to score the game’s first run.
The T-Birds added two runs in the fifth inning in unique fashion. With the bases loaded, two-hitter Santino Capozzolo executed a squeeze play to score one run and an errant throw by the third baseman allowed a second run to come in. The next batter, Ryan Kiendle, hit a sac fly to deep left, just narrowly missing a homer, to score Jagger Adamo and make it 4-0.
With the way Pepitone was throwing, that was an insurmountable lead to overcome. He worked around a walk in the sixth inning to strike out two more batters and induced a grounder to lead off the seventh inning before fanning the final two batters to finish off his masterpiece with an exclamation point.
With the loss, Whitman finished their 2024 season with a record 16-7, a tremendous step forward and that was even with opening their season with a sweep at the hands of Longwood. Their championship drought, which dates back to 1975, will have to wait at least one more year. With their young core of players, they will be among the favorites to win it all in 2025.
Connetquot continued their incredible run of excellence, and they will be looking to take down a talented Sachem North team that is having their best season since 2011.
