Well people, to borrow a bad cliche, it's been one roller-coaster of a season. Many apologies for not checking in more often from Binghamton, but after running all over (in the rain!) I couldn't find a wi-fi connection to transmit from near the field.
Since Adam's covered Suffolk all year, he was shipped off to go watch Islip (and got fancy internet access). I, meanwhile, got Massapequa. Some notes:
- Yes, Massapequa was just as devastated as you would expect after the loss. They were down by three runs but, as I told someone earlier today, just about everyone in my makeshift pressbox (a table, chairs and a tarp that I learned to love), thought they were coming back. Even the guy from the local paper who had never seen them play before thought they were coming back. Some pretty nail-biting stuff.
- Interesting note, though: Try as they might, Massapequa could seriously not hit the ball to the opposite field against the Mamaroneck pitcher, Andrew Benkwitt. Save for Chris Theoharides' chopper up the middle in the seventh, all of the Chief's hits were to the left side. In short: Benkwitt was throwing gas.
- Talking to Vin Caesar, the 'pequa shortstop, after the game: He said that he felt that the Chiefs were overconfident going into the second game. "I knew we had to settle down and play like we did in the first 10 games," he said. He was frustrated, no doubt about it, but added that "we're not in mourning right now. No one thought we'd even come close to a state championship. This is a great team and I'm happy."
- Also cool: They shipped off pitching coach Chris Cafiero to Buffalo to scout the first team they played, Hilton. Apparently they've been doing this for three years, according to coach Tom Sheedy. See details in the write-up below.
Quick write-up for Game 1, which I had to chop out for space below the cut.
Massapequa defeated Hilton (Section I) with relative ease, 4-0. The Chiefs scored two runs in the second and two in the fourth as Mike Mandarino shut down the Cadets in his complete-game four-hitter.
Greg Muller kicked off the scoring with an RBI single to score Matt Hardy from second. Muller moved to second on a groundout to second base and Chris Theoharides chased him home with a single to leftfield that skittered past a diving shortstop.
Travis Locascio led off the fourth with a single and moved to second on a bunt. Muller followed up with a single to right field to place runners at first and third. Abruzzino doubled to plate Locascio and moved to third when Muller was picked off third on a botched squeeze play. Abruzzino came home on a balk.
“We scouted the team pretty extensively,” Muller said. “We knew their pitching philosophy, pretty much everything about their pitching.”
Coach Chris Cafiero, he said, flew up to Buffalo to watch the team. Added Mandarino: “I knew those hitters as if I’d seen them for four or five years. It helped 100 percent.”
Comments (1)
congratulations to Massapequa for a great season....good luck in college baseball!