by George Caratzas
Our @GetGameChanger Player of the Game is LHP Chris Spatenga. The Molloy-commit struck out 11 over 6.2 shutout innings of a 5-0 victory by Sayville pic.twitter.com/QPZmBL5NMU
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 9, 2025
Behind early offense and a gem from its starting pitcher on the road, the Sayville Golden Flashes improved to 3-2 on the season.
After losing its first game of the series to the Miller Place Panthers on Tuesday, the Golden Flashes returned the favor on Wednesday, grabbing a 5-0 win. Although just one would have been enough for starting pitcher Chris Spatenga, Sayville plated all five runs in the first five innings.
The Golden Flashes got to work early on offense, scoring three before the Panthers even came to bat. With two men aboard, Sayville first baseman Andrew Law belted a fly ball to deep center field. With the late-afternoon sun a factor, the ball skipped on the warning track and brought in two runs. Then, second baseman Brody Tellier found a hole on the left side to score Law from second, making it 3-0 quickly.
“You always love to come out and score early,” head coach Joe Esposito said in a postgame interview with Axcess Baseball. “Especially when you get the shadows later in the day and it gets tough. It’s always great to have a hot start right out of the gate and put the pitcher at ease and settle him down a bit.”
With a lead to work with, Spatenga made quick work of the Panthers. He set them aside in order in the first, before throwing a zero in the second, with the help of a batter’s interference call on a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play.
In the top of the third, Sayville added on. Leading off, catcher Shane Meehan launched a solo homer to dead-center field to make it 4-0. After Law reached on an infield hit, Tellier split the gap in right-center field for a run-scoring three-bagger to stretch the lead to five.
Spatenga struck out the side in the third, but surrendered his first hit of the game: a two-out double to Miller Place shortstop Chris DiGennaro. In the top of the fourth, Sayville shortstop Aidan Devane doubled to lead off the inning, but was left stranded.
Both sides contributed a scoreless fourth inning before the game got chippy. The Golden Flashes put a runner in scoring position after a leadoff double in the top of the fifth, but he was erased on a well-executed hidden ball trick by Miller Place. In the next half inning, Spatenga struck out the first two, before issuing a walk and letting a runner reach on an error.
With two on and two out, he dug deep and struck out his third man of the inning to sidestep trouble.
“My mentality was just to shove,” Spatenga said. “There was a lot of cheering and everyone was really hyped so that just helped me shove.”
Spatenga again worked around a double in the sixth, before issuing a one-out walk in the seventh. Needing to get two more outs, he struck out his final assignment as he was yanked due to the pitch count. Out of the bullpen, Joe Strinning recorded the final out on a flyout to right field.
“It’s big to get length out of our starter,” Esposito said. “Early in the season, you don’t always expect to get a deep start but [Spatenga] was cruising today so we let him go a bit longer. You always want your studs to go out and do their thing, we definitely have guys that we trust. When you have a guy out there doing his thing like he was today, you want to let him finish the job.”
In all, Spatenga went 6 ⅔ shutout innings while allowing three hits and striking out 11 Panthers.
“My fastball felt free and easy,” Spatenga said. “I felt really comfortable hitting spots and just working.”
Offensively, Devane, Tellier and Law all had multiple hits. Law drove in two while Meehan drove in a run on his third-inning long ball. For Miller Place, DiGennaro went 1-for-2 with a walk and a double.
With the Panthers dropping to 3-2, the two sides will play a rematch on Friday, April 11 at Sayville High School. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
