Final: Commack 8, Ward Melville 3
WP: Justin PaganLuke Krzemienski drove in 3 runs as the Cougars improve to 5-1 pic.twitter.com/Wb6kMlQe2y
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 12, 2025
Commack was able to defeat their rivals, Ward Melville, and the elements by the score of 8-3 in a game that began at 5pm on Friday and ended around 12:20pm on Saturday due to darkness suspending play in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Cougars, who jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before Ward Melville fought back to tie it, showed their patented resilience that has allowed them to win four consecutive Suffolk County Championships.
“All four games we played against them was in horrible weather,” said Commack head coach Matt Salmon, “But today I just tried to remind them that Ward Melville had to play in the same conditions. Nobody wanted to come back here today but sometimes things happen and we have to kind of re-focus for four outs on defense and the guys really came through and they were pretty tough.”
They wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first inning against Ward Melville’s starter, Connor McFarland. Freshman Robbie Mascia, led things off with a well-struck double to left field. He stole third and scored on a balk to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars started freshman Travis Gural, who fired a 1-2-3 inning to get his team back into the dugout, but Commack also went down quite in the top of the second inning. Gural worked around a leadoff single by Jason Stiles in the second inning, coaxing a 6-4-3 double play to erase the base runner.
In the top of the third, the Cougars added two more runs. After the leadoff batter grounded out, Anthony Antorino singled to left field and advanced to second on a walk to Mascia. Luke Krzemienski came through with an RBI single to right to score Antorino to make it 2-0. With Chris Messina batting, Krzemienski stole second and when the throw got past the second baseman, it allowed Mascia to come around to score and extend the lead to 3-0.
Credit to Ward Melville, they were able to flip the script and inch closer.
After the first two batters were hit in the third inning, Joseph Karpowicz ripped a two-run double to center field to make it 3-2. Justin Pagan came on in relief with one out and was able to escape relatively unscathed, although Stiles tied the game up with a fielder’s choice to shortstop. The next batter was retired to end the inning.
Both offenses would go quietly over the next couple innings, as both relievers were able to hold the fort.
With the game tied at 3-3 entering the sixth inning, Commack was able to break through in a big way, scoring five runs.
“We led off that inning with a bunt – we told that kid you have to bunt. it’s wet, it’s gross – even if they field it, there’s a chance they throw it away. There was a lot of buy-in there, the next guy tried to bunt also, and we just tried to make things happen. I kept telling them, it’s a gross, rainy day, put the ball in play hard on the ground. It’s tough to play defense. They really bought in and had some quality at bats for the entire game.”
The rally was started by Ryan Scheinman on the bunt single and he stole second. Sam Kay sacrificed him to second, and Zach Cory came through with a bloop single, that just got past the first baseman’s glove. After a walk, Anthony Antorino followed with a two-run triple to make it 6-3 and give Commack some breathing room. They broke it open on an error that scored two runs and make it 8-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, with daylight running out and a steady rain, there wasn’t much time to get the rest of the game in. The umps notified both teams that this would be the last inning. The rain, however, made it very difficult for the pitcher to grip the ball and that results in two walks and several pitches to the backstop. The ump suspended the game with runners on 1st & 3rd, 2 outs and a 1-0 count, much to the chagrin of all in attendance.
The game resumed on Saturday just before noon in worse weather conditions, but Commack’s reliever Sam Kay, made quick work, inducing a soft pop out to right to end the inning.
After Commack went scoreless in the top of the seventh, Kay went back out for the home half of the seventh, working around a one-out single by Jay Mehta up the middle. Kay slammed the door shut with a strikeout of Karpowicz to win the game and the series for Commack who enter their bye week at 5-1.
They were slated to face St. Anthony’s on Monday, but the Friars have their own league game that was suspended on Friday and will be continued on Monday.
