Anytime you lose your starting pitcher in the second inning with 0 out, it’s never a good thing – but the sting hurts much less when your reliever throws 6 innings of shutout ball. That’s exactly what happened to Deer Park when starter Kevin Houlahan exited in the top of the second inning, after recording just four outs but junior southpaw Brady Parks fired 6 innings of shutout ball, yielding just three hits and striking out three batters to earn the win. The offense had already done the heavy lifting in the first inning when Aiden Connors smacked an RBI double, Angelo Agro followed with an RBI single and Gennaro Trovato followed with an RBI single of his own. The big knock came by nine-hole hitter Nick DeNoyior who ripped a two-run single to open up a 5-1 lead. At that p...
A six-game winning streak right in the middle of the season was a huge factor in Deer Park qualifying for a postseason berth. With the combination of seniors Charlie Rainone (St. Joseph’s) and Robert Belotti (Farmingdale State), the Falcons were able to put together an incredible streak of five consecutive shutouts. “Rainone had a great year all-around–on the mound, at the plate and in the field for us,” said Head Coach Ryan Argenziano. Rainone was voted Axcess Baseball‘s League 5 MVP. He compiled an ERA of 1.81 with 65 strikeouts over 40 IP. At the plate, he batted .330 with 15 RBI as well. Losing those two will certainly be a challenge to replace for an 11-win team. They had the makings of a team that could make a playoff run but they ran into Whitman in the...
Coming off one of their most successful seasons under 10-year Head Coach Ryan Argenziano, the Deer Park Falcons will be looking to duplicate that success in a new league. They were co-champs with Bellport and West Islip in league 4. With the re-classification of many schools, the Falcons will now be competing in League 5. The switch means they will not have to face West Islip, who was a real thorn in their side last season–responsible for five of their eight losses on the season including a 4-1 season-ending loss and also an epic 10-9 loss in the first round which featured theatrics such as a grand slam, game-tying hit in the sixth and a walk-off for the Lions. “We played them six times last year and we just couldn’t get past them,” said Argenziano. “We battle...
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...