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Suffolk Top 10 (Records and rankings as of Sunday)
1. Patchogue-Medford (13-0)
2. West Islip (10-2)
3. HHH West (10-2)
4. Lindenhurst (9-2)
5. Islip (10-4)
6. Commack (8-4)
7. Miller Place (11-1)
8. Harborfields (10-3)
9. Riverhead (9-5)
10. Rocky Point (10-3)
Check out William Carmona, from the Hempstead Tigers:
7-for-12 with four home runs, 12 RBIs and nine runs scored in only two games - one against Valley Stream South and one against Uniondale.
Hempstead is 2-7 in league and 3-8 overall.
- Laura Albanese
I've heard it all - ability based grouping kills competitiveness, players in the higher leagues are held to a different standard, it's just plain harder to stand out when you're playing big-time teams all the time.
It's probably all true (well, maybe not the first one - I guarantee you that no one on AA-I or II wants to lose, whether they're playing for a postseason berth or a bag of Skittles), but I'm gonna let all that slide.
Because it seems to me that yes, even though East Rockaway plays in ABC-VI and doesn't have to go against the big guys, Larry Ulip is legit all the way around.
This week, Ulip pitched a complete game three-hitter, with 15 strikeouts and six walks against Lawrence. In that same game, he also went 3-for-4 with a run scored. He's won all four of his decisions this season, including a career-high 19 strikeout effort against Lawrence. I don't care if you're playing a little league team, that's impressive. He's got power on the mound and with the bat and East Rock wouldn't be nearly as good without him. (East Rockaway now leads ABC-VI at 7-3.)
So, what do you think: Should we be grading on a curve? Would an ABC-VI star like Ulip be just a middle of the road player on a team like Island Trees or Massapequa (and against their heavy opponents)? I'm thinking not, but I've certainly been wrong before.
BY ADAM RONIS
Patchogue-Medford faced Ward Melville in a rematch of a Suffolk Class AA semifinal from last season in which Patchogue-Medford won 7-4 in 11 innings. But right now, Patchogue-Medford seems primed for a deep run into the postseason and Ward Melville will need to go on a hot streak just to make the postseason.
Patchogue-Medford remained the lone undefeated team in Suffolk with an 8-0 win over host Ward Melville in Game 1 of a three-game series. Senior lefthander Mike Smith threw a five-hitter, walked three and struck out 10.
"The weather helps," PM coach Anthony Frascogna said. "His off-speed stuff hasn’t been getting over and he was relying on the fastball. His pitch count has been up because he’s got behind hitters. His curveball was on today."
"The guys did a great job behind me," Smith said. "They won two games from us last year, so I wanted to come out firing."
Junior Marcus Stroman went 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI and three stolen bases. He has 17 for the season, breaking the program record of 16 held by Ryan Carroll. Dan Farrell went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for PM (10-0, 9-0 League I).
"He’s been coming up with big hits with guys in scoring position," Frascogna said of Farrell. "He’s our No. 4 hitter and sometimes a high school kid in the four hole thinks he needs to swing for the moon every time. He tries to work the count and put the ball in play where it is pitched."
Patchogue-Medford has lost in Game 3 of the best-of-three county championship the last two seasons. While the pitching remains the same, the offense has improved a lot. Last season the pitchers were under a lot of pressure to perform because the offense didn't put up a lot of runs.
"Everybody hits the ball hard from one to nine," Farrell said. "We played good last year in the playoffs, but didn’t get the breaks. It’s more laid back this year. Everyone is loose and it’s fun. We’ve been together for a few years."
For Ward Melville, it will take a lot of work to return to the semifinals. Ward Melville is 2-8, 2-5. The Patriots need to win 7 of its final 11 to make the playoffs.
"We're in a slump," WM coach Lou Petrucci said. "We didn't play good baseball today."
Courtesy of A-Ron's Insider.
Player of the Week:
Chris Martelli, Manhasset, junior -
P/2B
Threw a five-hitter, allowed one earned run and struck out 11 in a 2-1 win over New Hyde Park on Tuesday. Martelli went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and two-run homer in a 14-5 win over New Hyde Park on Thursday.
Thor Miller, Miller Place, junior -
P/RF
Threw a three-hitter, struck out 11 and did not give up an earned run in a 4-1 win over Westhampton on Wednesday. Miller went 2-for-2 with a home run and three runs scored in a 10-2 win over Westhampton on Monday.
Rankings below the cut...
| Justin Moore against Syosset |
Well, well, would you look at that: the two undefeated teams in AA-I, East Meadow and Massapequa, both fell to their opponents yesterday in fairly decisive fashion.
Led by Matt Zink, Syosset defeated EM, 6-3, in their first real test of the season. East Meadow won the first game of the series, 7-2 on Monday. It makes you sort of wonder: East Meadow is good, no doubt about it (they wouldn't be in AA-I otherwise), but how many of their wins come from overpowering talent and how many come by merit of a comparatively easy early season schedule? In other words: what's going to happen against big bad MacArthur next week?
It's nice to see the Braves rebounding after their sweep by MacArthur and the loss in game one. No such respite for slap-happy Mepham. The team came into their series against Massapequa having scored over 50 runs in their previous four games. Not so much against the Chiefs, who limited Mepham to nine runs over three games and swept them but good. Color me an optimist, though: I think Mepham has what it takes to at least split their four games against Seaford and Syosset.
And finally, Massapequa, leaders of all things Nassau baseball, fell 5-1 behind the bat of MacArthur's Justin Moore and pitcher Nick Savin. Every single time I've seen Moore (ok, only twice, but still), he's been beyond impressive. Yesterday, it was a three run home run that sealed the victory against 'pequa. On April 7, he was making waves on the mound: toying with Syosset's emotions before skirting out of trouble on a number of ocassions.
Kid doesn't say much, but he knows his baseball and can beat a team any which way he wants.
Also, let me take a second to show a little love for the underexposed teams on ABC-VII. East Meadow and Massapequa may have fallen off the undefeated wagon, but there's still one team with a perfect record. West Hempstead remains unbeaten (5-0), with two wins coming against historically better teams in East Rockaway and Malverne.
BY ADAM RONIS
Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to hide and stay under the covers? That's what it felt like for North Babylon today in a 13-0 loss to West Islip. North Babylon trailed 4-0 after four innings, but West Islip exploded offensively in the final three innings.
It was the first loss of the season for North Babylon, which is composed mainly of sophomores and juniors.
"Sometimes you're due for one of these games," coach Jim Mango said. "Whether you lose 13-0 or 1-0, it's still a loss. We have to wipe the slate clean and take it as a learning experience. We're still finding out about ourselves."
BY ADAM RONIS
Not only are those who suit up in baseball uniforms superstitious, but so are the fans. It didn't matter who West Islip sent up to the plate in the later innings of the game, they all hit the ball hard for base hits. That prompted one West Islip fan to say it felt like the gum he was chewing was like asphalt or cement. Since the team he was rooting for was pounding out hit after hit, he didn't want to dispose of the gum. Hey, whatever works.
West Islip opened a three-game series in a battle for first place with a 13-0 road win over North Babylon in a Suffolk League III game. The story was West Islip ace righthander Nick Tropeano, who threw a two-hitter, walked none and struck out 10 on three days rest. He was outstanding and breezed through the game with a fastball and changeup. For more on him, check my story in the paper tomorrow.
The offense was clicking for West Islip as it pounded out 15 hits. Even when the pinch hitters were sent up in the sixth and seventh innings, they came though. The one thing that stood out was the way West Islip played fundamental ball in the third to score a run. Kenneth DiDonna was hit by a pitch to lead off.
Stephen Smith sacrificed him to second and DiDonna then stole third. Tom Moran then hit a grounder to second base to score DiDonna for a 2-0 lead. DiDonna, the ninth place hitter, also laid down a perfect bunt between first and home in the fourth to score Dan Vignola to give West Islip a 4-0 lead.
"It was a team effort," West Islip coach Steve Mileti said. "Everybody got the job done."
West Islip hopes that continues throughtout the season and into the postseason where it hasn't done well in recent seasons. West Islip lost to North Babylon in the first round last season, but has a senior-laden team.
"We all hit the ball well," catcher Patrick Cantwell said. "It's a big momentum boost, but we still have two more games left in the series."
A quick note on James Vena, the sometimes-reliever who helped pave the way to North Shore's come-from-behind victory against Clarke
Coming in trailing 5-0, with two runners in scoring position and one out in the first, Vena limited Clarke to one earned run, with three hits and six strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. And it turns out that Vena, who didn't hit that game, was nursing a sore hamstring that he suffered stealing a base against Garden City the game before. North Shore, meanwhile, is getting off to a quick start with major contributions from guys like Pat Chaputian (OER, 3H, 12Ks, 3BB against Glen Cove yesterday) and Ian Hnatov (two home runs, including a first-inning grand slam, and five RBIs against Carle Place).
Chris Mendoza, Connetquot, junior, P/2B
Mendoza went 9-for-14 last week, including a four-hit, five-RBI game against League II rival Central Islip on Thursday. He scored six runs in a 14-0 rout. On Tuesday, he went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs and, Monday, he went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs.
Zach Epstein, Hewlett, senior, P/CF
Epstein struck out 10 in seven innings of two-hit ball for Hewlett on Wednesday against Jericho. He allowed one earned run, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs, three runs scored and three stolen bases. On Tuesday, he went 3-for-4, with a homer, two RBIs, three runs scored and three stolen bases against Carle Place.
Suffolk
1. Patchogue-Medford
2. West Islip
3. Half Hollow Hills West
4. Sayville
5. Kings Park
6. North Babylon
7. Mount Sinai
8. Lindenhurst
9. Commack
10. Connetquot
Nassau
1. Massapequa
2. East Meadow
3. MacArthur
4. Clarke
5. Island Trees
6. St. Dominic
7. Mepham
8. Division
9. Kellenberg
BY LAURA ALBANESE
So I went to the MacArthur/Syosset match-up this Monday and, in between trying regain feeling in all my extremities, I was able to jot down some interesting notes here and there.
- Syosset is having a rough go at it, huh? At last check, they were 1-3 in league with all their losses being close calls.They're incredibly solid all the way through (though maybe a little shaky on some key defensive spots), but so far, they're lacking a big playmaker that can deliver those key two-out hits.
- Matt Zink might get all the hype, but Syosset first baseman Mike Cunningham is kinda ridiculous. He's consistent with the bat, but his defense absolutely anchors that infield. I counted three (three!) times he saved an error with his fancy footwork. Twice with cringe-inducing splits to reach throws that were either too wide or too weak, and once with a web-gem worthy jump and twirl tag. This kid went up, fully extended, to catch a high toss and then twirled mid-air to tag the runner right before he hit the bag. Awesome.
- According to coach Larry Levane, starter Bryan Henrick has been starting off shaky and locking in after a few innings - much like he did during the MacArthur game. He allowed a single to the leadoff hitter and fell behind 3-1 to the next two batters before allowing a run. After after a hit to start off the second, he seemed to settle down considerably. It might just be the weather getting to him, though. I'd love to see how he does when he can actually warm up.
(To anyone who's never been: early season baseball games are cold. It could be 55 degrees everywhere else, and you'll still be clutching your inappropriately thin spring jacket, waiting for hypothermia to kick in. Major shoutout to the crowd supervisor at Syosset, who kindly let me sit on her blanket.)
But enough about the Braves. I'm currently wracking my brain, trying to suss out the players of the week. We've had some outstanding performances thus far, and it's only Wednesday.
Check out the numbers for Vinny Festa in a game for New Hyde Park this week: 4-for-4, 4 RBIs, 2 SB, 3 R.
Then there's Jason Chin. He struck out 18 for Baldwin and allowed one unearned run in what I'm guessing was a complete game against Elmont (guess I'll call the coach on this one).
Hewlett's Zach Epstein, meanwhile, went 3-for-4, with a home run, two RBIs, three runs and three stolen bases in a game against Carle Place.
I know I'm probably missing someone big. Let me know! (Nassau Catholic schools are in here, too.)
Suffolk rankings
1. Patchogue-Medford
2. West Islip
3. Commack
4. Half Hollow Hills West
5. Sayville
6. Lindenhurst
7. Mount Sinai
8. Kings Park
9. Islip
10. Smithtown East
Nassau rankings
1. East Meadow
2. Massapequa
3. Mepham
4. MacArthur
5. Clarke
6. Syosset
7. St. Dominic
8. Island Trees
9. Division
10. Kellenberg
BY ADAM RONIS
Darrin Dawber, St. Anthony's, junior, pitcher
Dawber tore the labrum on his pitching shoulder in May and had surgery in July. In his first start since then, he lost a no-hitter with one out in the seventh on an infield single Wednesday in a 3-0 win over Chaminade. He threw a one-hitter, walked none and struck out eight.
Jared Mancini, Port Jefferson, senior, pitcher
Mancini threw a perfect game and struck out 16 in a 7-0 win over Shelter Island on Thursday. He also went 4-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs. The day before, he went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
I hate to be writing about them so much, but check out Bryan Edwards yesterday. He pitched a complete game and struck out 11 for an undefeated Massapequa on their way to a 6-4 win against Plainview. The kid is huge and, the one time I checked him out, he was blowing Seaford away in the last inning of a blowout. There wasn't a radar around, but, judging by the smack of the catcher's glove, I'm thinking well over 80 mph.
Farmingdale is feeling the sting of ability-based grouping. The team is 1-2 overall and 0-2 in league after yesterday's loss to Syosset in a AA-I/II crossover. On a brighter note, Mr. Matt Zink took the mound and was dominating per usual - three hits and seven ks. His only run was unearned. I seriously can't wait to see this kid in person, that's how much people have been talking him up. Has anyone seen him pitch? Is he really that good or are the wheels going to fall off against the stiff competition this year?
- Laura Albanese
