Game Recaps
West Islip Advances to Class AA Finals With 5-1 Victory Over Ward Melville
Final: West Islip 5, Ward Melville 1 WP: Tom Gatto (complete game) West Islip advances to face Commack in Class AA finals pic.twitter.com/64j8cplbbn aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 26, 2017 Plenty of obstacles have stood in the way of West Islip this season. To this point, none have been able to hinder their success. Despite graduating a number of impact seniors last year, losing a pre-season aXcess Top 30 player to season-ending injury, dealing with two other playoff teams in their own league and now facing one of the top pitchers in the county in Ben Brown, they have passed every challenge with flying colors. They won two of three from No. 1 seed Ward Melville, 5-1, behind a complete game gem from Tom Gatto to advance to the finals where they will face No. 2 Commack. “...
Chris Wasson Walks-Off, Sends Chiefs on to Nassau County AA Finals
Chris Wasson rips walk-off single to send Massapequa to the Nassau County Class AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/bZJmKM6U0t aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2017 By Joe Morris The Massapequa Chiefs advanced to the Nassau County Championship on Wednesday in walk-off fashion, with LIU Post-commit Chris Wasson coming up in the clutch hitting the game-winning RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning. It was playoff baseball at its best, from exceptional pitching, to plays at the plate and timely hitting that all culminated in a thrilling walk-off win for the Chiefs in 11 innings, clinching a spot in the Championship against Plainview-JFK. Both teams got on the board early, as defensive mistakes from the Chiefs set up the Sailors first baseman Chris Siklas for a...
West Islip Takes Game 1 Over Ward Melville With 1-0 Win
West Islip accomplished the main goal in a Class AA Suffolk County semifinal three-game series; win on the road to play tomorrow at home with a 1-0 series lead. Senior RHP Joe Valentino stepped up for WI and earned the W, throwing 6.2 scoreless innings with seven Ks, five walks and four hits. The Patriots called upon LHP Chris Buehler to face WI at home, he was tagged with the tough-luck loss after allowing one earned run over seven innings with seven Ks, four walks and three hits. “It has been like this every game, we’re a team that prides itself on pitching and defense, Ward Melville is a very similar team to us,” said WI head coach Shawn Rush. “Throughout the season we’ve had numerous games like this; this is what we’re bred for, this is our style of play.” Despite being known for stron...
Jimmy Joyce Propels Wantagh to Game One Victory
FINA: Wantagh 6 Division 2 WP: Jimmy Joyce Anthony Fontana: 2-Run HR Trevor Fagan: 2 RBI’s pic.twitter.com/cWeM3Nk9nD aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2017 Wantagh once again proved they are a “playoff team” as they downed the Division Blue Dragons by a score of 6-2 in game one of the three-game series. From the start of this game, the Warriors seemed to have control of this game. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Trevor Fagan delivered a 2 RBI single, and later scored on a wild pitch. His 2 RBI capitalized a 4-run 1st inning, and gave star pitcher Jimmy Joyce all of the run support he needed. “When you give a pitcher like Jimmy an early cushion like that in the ballgame, it helps him and us play comfortably the rest of the way,” said Fagan...
Chris Cappas Dominates Again in Kellenberg’s 2-0 Shutout of Chaminade
The firebirds shutout the Chaminade flyers 2-0 at Mitchell Feild pic.twitter.com/UytNg7G9dZ aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 24, 2017 By Johnny Vaccaro Pittsburgh-commit Chris Cappas did it all for the Kellenberg Firebirds at Mitchel Field in tonight’s 2-0 shutout over Chaminade in the CHSAA playoffs. He extended his scoreless innings streak to 25.1 IP in the process. At the plate, he went 2 for 3 with a triple, an RBI, and 1 run scored. On the mound, he pitched 6.2 IP, allowing no runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. It was a stellar performance by the MLB Draft hopeful Cappas. I want it really bad,” he said in regards to wanting to repeat as CHSAA champs. “We won last year and were gonna repeat this year. Its a great feeling and I...
Will Feil, Wheatley Defeat Oyster Bay, 8-5, On Verge of Nassau Class B Title
Final: Wheatley 8, Oyster Bay 5 WP: Stephen McCleary Will Feil: 3-for-4, 3 RBI pic.twitter.com/aW2J5hV5hP aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2017 Wheatley put up four runs in the first inning, and that was just the beginning of a wild, offensive shootout against the same Oyster Bay team that was looking for revenge of last year’s Nassau County Class B championship. In the top of the fourth, third baseman Will Feil smoked a long RBI double to right center field to score Eric Beierlein to put Wheatley up 6-5. He scored when the ensuing batter, Mike Cunney, lined a single to center to make the score 7-5. After their starter, Stephen McCleary, allowed the first two runners to reach base via singles, left fielder James McPhillips came on to put out the fire and he did just t...
Pulsipher, Center Moriches shut out Mattituck, 3-0, to Force Winner-Take-All
Stony Brook-commit Liam Pulsipher was a dominant force on the mountin a must-win game on the road against No. 1 Mattituck. Pulsipher threw seven zeros on the board for the Red Devils, as he only allowed two hits, two walks and he struck out 10. The crafty junior lefty stepped up for his team against a tough opponent and opposing pitcher in Brendan Kent. “Liam has really progressed throughout the years, we had him as a freshman and each year he keeps getting better and better, staying composed under pressure, and he really has become a solid big game pitcher,” said CM head coach Dennis Donovan. “Nothing seems to bother him, which is rare for a kid his age.” The Red Devil’s offense was led by Rob Copozzi, who went 3-for-3 with a double and a run. CM got their scoring going early, as they ral...
Breaking Down the Ugly Finish to the Suffolk-Northern Essex District Game
The Situation: With Northern Essex leading 8-3 in the top of the ninth inning–needing just three defensive outs to qualify for the NJCAA World Series next week–their batter took exception to a pitch that was near his head. He immediately began to scream at the pitcher while aggressively approaching him. Both dugouts emptied, and several punches were thrown. A couple players were struck in the face and it continued for at least 1 minute before the coaches and umpires were able to diffuse the situation and get the players in the dugout. In the below video, most of the damage had already occurred prior to the beginning of the footage. The umpires are discussing whether to end the game after this bench clearing brawl pic.twitter.com/Kz8luR26We aXcess Baseball (@axcessbasebal...
Ward Melville takes a must-win game from Smithtown East, 6-0.
Sophomore pitcher Ethan Farino made only his second start of the season for the Ward Melville Patriots (19-3), but he threw a CG shutout gem in their 6-0 win over Smithtown East. The Patriots came out hungry for a win after a short rainstorm yesterday forced both teams to pack it in and continue the game today. WM scratched a run across before the rain rolled through and picked up right where they left off. “Smithtown East has had our number for the past two years; they came back and beat us in the seventh inning last Wednesday, so we knew we had a tough road ahead,” said WM head coach Lou Petrucci. “Ethan Farino, sophomore, is a great competitor; that was his second start of the year and he came up big time for us.” RHP Farino and his deceptive three-quarter delivery kept a strong SE line...
Pat-Med Pulls Off Huge Upset of No. 3 Hills East, Advance to Semis
Final: Pat-Med 4, Hills East 3 WP: Angelo Sciandra No. 3 Hills East is eliminated pic.twitter.com/m2HFo2zlbD aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 19, 2017 To say that Pat-Med came in with the chips stacked against them would be an understatement. As the No. 14 seed against No. 3 seed Hills East, they would have to pull off all their victories on the road. They put a sophomore, Randall Alejo, up against Vanderbilt-commit Matt Hogan and they had a number of sophomores playing prominent roles in the game. None of that mattered, as they pulled off the upset with a 4-3 victory to advance to the Class AA semifinals against Commack beginning on Monday. “We wanted to kind of represent our league, and we did a nice job, we’ve had great at bats for the past few weeks,” said...
Kyle O’Neill Delivers West Islip to Dramatic Walk-off Win
In a game for the ages, the West Islip Lions came out on top against the Deer Park Falcons by a score of 10-9 on a walk-off hit from Kyle O’Neill. This game had everything, so it was only appropriate that it ended in a walk-off. For starters, the first inning took a whopping 43 minutes. O’Neill got the starting not for West Islip, but he got off to a shaky start. He walked in two consecutive batters to give the Falcons an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. The Lions bounced back quickly in the bottom of the 1st on RBI hits from Anthony Ippolito and Joe Valentino. This would not be the last you hear of Valentino in this game. O’Neill’s struggles carried over into the third inning in which he could not find the strike zone, walking six batters over two innings and bein...
Bayport-Blue Point Avenges 2016 Playoff Walk-Off loss to Rocky Point, Win 4-0
Head Coach Jim Moccio and the Bayport Blue-Point Phantoms are treading unfamiliar water this playoff season coming in as a seven seed. Despite their low-seeding, BBP has come out fighting in this tournament defeating the No. 2 seed Sayville , and now the No. 3 seed Rocky Point. Hard throwing RHP Josh Monturo went the distance for BBP with a complete game shutout recording seven strikeouts, one walk and five hits. He finished his day at the plate 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs. “At the plate I was just trying to attack fastballs; that’s what I’ve been doing all season and it has been working out well,” said BBP pitcher Monturo. “Staying calm is key, playoffs get a little hyped up so I just try to stay calm and make hard contact.” Rocky Point called upon their LHP Joey Grillo for this play...
