Archive
Suffolk Tops Nassau in Comeback Win, Claims Regional Title
By Nakeem Grant A three-run rally in the bottom of the 9th gave Suffolk a 5-4 win, crowning them the 2016 NJCAA XV Regional champions. It was a tightly contested game at Farmingdale State College but only one team could claim the title. Suffolk took an early 2-0 lead with sac flies from Jason Conti in the bottom of the 2nd and Eloy Benson in the 3rd inning. Suffolk’s starter, Robert Sciarrotta fed off his team’s early momentum, putting up five zeroes in the first five innings. His curveball got plenty of swings and misses and his fastball helped to start two double plays. “He’s been consistent for us all year,” said Suffolk head coach Eric Brown. “He’s done a tremendous job for us off the mound. He’s just a quality young man.” Nassau started to figure out Sciarrotta and took a better appro...
Power Rankings Volume 9
by Vinny Messana This was the type of week we live for here at Baseball on the Island. On Tuesday, it was the Skyline Conference championship, today was the ECC championship as well as as the NJCAA championship. Being that only a handful of teams remain, we will keep the rankings to top 5 this week. 1.St. Joseph’s Record: 24-11, Stock UP They retain the top spot after going undefeated in the Skyline Conference playoffs. They didn’t have an easy route either–having to win four games and play the final three on the road at the place that has caused them huge issues in the past. Additionally, they trailed 5-0 in the first inning of the championship game. To their credit, Josh Outsen did a great job of holding the fort while their offense went to work. Nick Girardi wen...
Dowling defeats Bridgeport to Claim the ECC Championship
(Photo Credit: Dowling Athletics) by Danny Gatta “It was one of those plays that happens in slow motion. Not only the play with the glove, but the great throw from the knees to get the guy at first, said Dowling’s Head Coach Tom Caputo, describing the great defensive play made by second baseman Rob Costanzo that ended the game. Dowling defeated the University of Bridgeport 3-2, capturing their first East Coast Conference title since 2012. The pitching matchup featured Dowling’s Mike Jeannetti and Bridgeport’s Denis Lyman. Dowling stuck first against Lyman in the third. An RBI single by Tim Going plated Vinny Orlando, giving the Golden Lions an early 1-0 lead. Back to back hits from Bobby Morse and Tyler Piccolo, followed by a walk to Chris Appell loaded the bases. Dakota Edwards ente...
Molloy Defeated in Heartbreaking Fashion
by Vinny Messana A loss is never worth more than one game, but in this case it carries the pain of several. The Molloy Lions were cruising to an 8-2 lead in the seventh inning against the University of Bridgeport in the final round of the loser’s bracket of the ECC tournament. They could not hold on, however, and were upended 14-12 in shocking fashion. The Knights chipped away with four runs in the seventh inning cut the lead to 8-6. After the Lions added three runs on a two-run double by Brian Murphy (4-for-5, 4 RBI) and a sac fly on an infield foul ball by Deilyn Guzman, it appeared they had the game in hand. In the eighth, the Knights mounted a furious rally and put up three runs on a two-run double by Jose Negron and an RBI single by Casey Ouellete to score Negron and cut the lea...
Chris Cepeda Pitches Dowling to the ECC Championship
by Vinny Messana Chris Cepeda said he was so excited for this start that he didn’t get any sleep last night. By the looks of it, though, you would think the University of Bridgeport hitters were the sleepless ones. He fired a CG, allowing three earned runs with four strikeouts to improve to 7-0 in his freshman season and advance Dowling to the ECC Championship game against the winner of Molloy-Bridgeport. “I’ve been waiting all season for this,” said the Ward Melville grad. “I don’t even know how to explain it, I’ve just been excited and I couldn’t sleep last night.” He sliced through the Bridgeport lineup using his low 3/4 delivery and nasty two-seamer and slider combo all day. He needed 110 pitches to continue his undefeated season. A...
Bobby Morse’s Grand Slam Proves to be the Difference In Dowling’s 8-6 Win
by Vinny Messana Home field advantage is a beautiful thing–even when the fences more closely resemble playing in Yosemite National Park than the Washington Nationals park. The Dowling Golden Lions held off Molloy’s eighth inning rally and won 8-6 in the first round of the ECC Postseason. The difference in the ballgame was Dowling’s seven-run second inning off Ron Bauer–who led the ECC entering today with a 1.05 ERA but after his outing today it jumped to 1.94. The big blow was third baseman Bobby Morse‘s grand slam to left center field after Michael Rizzitello walked to load the bases. “I was just trying to redeem myself after the first inning, making an error,” said Dowling’s third baseman in reference to his throwing error that allowed Moll...
Ryan Pennisi’s RBI Double Caps Smithtown East’s Comeback over Newfield
by Vinny Messana It was a simple scenario for Newfield–win and they qualify for their first postseason berth since 2005. Except Smithtown East was in the away dugout and they weren’t about to do the Wolverines any favors. The Bulls overcame a 5-4 deficit in the seventh inning, with the go-ahead hit coming on a long two-run double down the left field line in the eighth inning for freshman Ryan Pennisi to score Nick Rizzo. “A line that we like to use pretty often is ‘pressure is a privilege,’ there’s no pressure if you don’t play in big games,” said Smithtown East Head Coach Ken Klee. “We’ve been pretty fortunate to play in a lot of big games so being tested comes through in a game like today when they’re playing for their pla...
Debate: Who Deserved to Win the Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year?
by Vinny Messana Two days ago the Skyline Conference announced that Farmingdale State‘s junior, Matt Seelinger, has been named Pitcher of the Year. While the awards are not the be-all-end-all when evaluating a player’s season, anybody would love the reassurance that their efforts did not go unnoticed. While Seelinger had a spectacular season for the Rams–and I noted that he was capable of that in January–we will delve into a couple other names that had comparable seasons and debate who was more worthy of the honor. This differed from previous years because last year Tim Ingram had a phenomenal year and was a pretty easy selection. In other years, there were pitchers like Arismendy Nunez, Mike Dolce and Chris Phelan that dominated the conference and made it an easy d...
Saint Rose bounces Adelphi from NE-10 Playoffs, wins 4-0
by Vinny Amodeo In their first playoff appearance since 2003, the College of Saint Rose traveled to Garden City, NY and shocked the top seeded Adelphi Panthers beating them by a score of 4-0. “This is amazing,” said the head coach of Saint Rose, Kyle Wilkins. “Obviously I know this isn’t the World Series or anything but this school has gone through a lot over the past few years and it hasn’t been a secret, we haven’t been that successful. I knew we had a good team in the beginning of the year, it started off a bit rocky but I knew we were capable of doing this. I was more nervous that we were going to play tight rather than loose, but we talked to them about it and they played loose, not like the moment was too big for us.” Senior hurler Phillip Zdanowski threw the game of his life, going ...
St. Joseph’s Wins First Skyline Conference Title Since 2004 With 11-Inning Classic
by Vinny Messana They’ll be talking about this one years from now. St. Joseph’s overcame a 5-0 first inning deficit and defeated No. 1 seed Farmingdale State 9-8 in an 11-inning battle. Ryan Walsh drew a bases-loaded walk to score Nick Girardi to cap the incredible come back. Girardi, who led off the inning with a double off the right field wall was named the MVP of the tournament. He went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two triples and walk. “It was a really awesome win for everybody,” said the senior. “Especially because they kept battling back and they’re a great club–we battled with them all year. I’m just really happy with my Coach Garrett and Pars, Sully, Brandon Lubrano, all my teammates. Just an amazing feeling!” It did not appear to ...
Introducing the No. 3 Prospect on the Island
by Vinny Messana Shoreham-Wading River’s second-year Head Coach, Kevin Willi, remembers watching Keith Osik and Eric Strovink play when he was seven-years-old on their way to the school’s first New York State title. Now he has an even closer look at one of the top players in the northeast region and that’s his shortstop and ace, Brian Morrell. “Pretty much every coach I’ve talked to is like, ‘we don’t know what to throw him,” said Willi. Thus is life when you have to face a player of Morrell’s ilk. When I went down to watch him for this article, I was hoping there would be something juicy that would happen in the game so I could incorporate it into the feature. The 2017 graduate did not disappoint as he smacked two HRs (his fifth and si...
Peter Theodorellis Extends Hit Streak to 18 Games, Throws CG in 11-1 Win
by Vinny Messana There’s been one constant every game this season for Commack. There’s no guarantee they’ll win every game, but if they are playing, you can bet that third-place hitter Peter Theodorellis will get a hit. They defeated Sachem East this afternoon, 11-1, and the junior lined a single over the shortstop in the fifth inning to extend his season-long hitting streak to 18 games. Oh, and he also fired a five-hitter, allowing zero ER and went the distance for his fourth victory of the season. “I noticed my hitting streak about third series in but didn’t really tell anyone, but my teammate, Brian Morissey, in my last game against William Floyd brought up how I have a hit in every game so that’s how it became more public. It honestly means a lot to ...
