BASEBALL PREVIEW: SUFFOLK LEAGUE I
Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 23 Mar 2014
SUFFOLK LEAGUE I
1. LONGWOOD LIONS
Coach: David DelFranco
2013 record: 13-9
Key players
Andruw Gazzola, P/SS, 6-1, 200, Sr.
Aaron Floyd, RF, 6-1, 160, Sr.
Camden Orologio, C/1B, 6-4, 195, Sr.
Chris Weiss, 3B/P, 5-10, 200, Sr.
Tim Kennedy, P/Util, 5-11, 180, Sr.
Sachem East 5 Longwood 3, WP – SAE: Lindenmeier. LP – Kennedy. March 25
Longwood 5 Sachem East 0, WP – LW: Gazzola. LP – Bashen. March 26
Sachem East 8, Longwood 0: Ryan Cole struck out three in 6 1/3 innings of one-hit baseball to lead Sachem East in League I. Tom Bashen went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, Zach McMahon went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Jake Andrechuk had two hits and two RBIs. WP – SAE: Cole. LP – Floyd. March 28
Longwood 6 Deer Park 4
WP – LW: Simpson. LP . HR – LW: Floyd 1. March 29
Longwood 5 Massapequa 2, WP – LW: Kennedy. LP . HR . April 6
Longwood 1, Commack 0: Andruw Gazzola scored the winning run on Mitch Gregorovich’s sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to lead Longwood (2-2) in League I. Gazzola tossed a three-hitter and struck out three. – Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 08 Apr 2014:
Longwood 2 Commack 1, WP – LW: Owens. LP – Negri. HR – LW: Gazzola 1. April 10
Longwood 1, Commack 0: Tyler Echeverria’s double drove in Camden Orologio in the top of the eighth inning for Longwood (4-2) in League I. Tim Kennedy pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings and reliever Chris Weiss threw 1 1/3 innings to earn the win. April 11
Longwood 1 Commack 0, WP – LW: Weiss. LP – Not reported. April 11
Longwood 3 Floyd 1, WP – LW: Gazzola. LP – Buvenzi. HR – LW: Weiss 1. April 13
Longwood 12 Floyd 0, WP – LW: Weiss. LP – Lazar. April 15
Longwood 6, Floyd 5: Camden Orologio’s walk-off single scored Andruw Gazzola in the 13th inning for Longwood (7-2) in League I. Andrew Frejka pitched four scoreless innings in relief to earn his first varsity win and Zach Allen went 3-for-6 with an RBI. April 20
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Sarra, Gregg. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 20 Apr 2014: A
CHRIS WEISS
Longwood, baseball
He went 3-for-3 with a double, a homer in a 3-1 win over Floyd. He allowed three hits with seven strikeouts over six innings in a 12-0 win over Floyd.
Longwood 11 Brentwood 8, WP – LW: Gazzola. LP – Pierce. HR – LW: Floyd 1, Gergorovic 1; BRN: Maselli 1. April 22
Longwood 10 Brentwood 0, WP – LW: Weiss. LP . HR – LW: Gazzola 1, Weiss 1. April 23
Brentwood 4 Longwood 3,Santino Ycaza drove in Josh Herritt with a triple in the sixth for Brentwood (2-10) in League I. Joe Mascelli allowed three hits and three walks, striking out four. WP – BRN: Maselli. LP – Owens. April 25
Ward Melville 5, Longwood 4: Ryan Shields scored the go-ahead run on an error in the top of the eighth to lead Ward Melville (11-2) in League I. Shields was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. WP – WM: Carballeria. LP – Frejka. April 29
Longwood 5 Ward Melville 0, WP – LW: Weiss. LP – Cepeda. HR – LW: Allen 1. April 30
Ward Melville 7, Longwood 6: Andrew Schelberg’s sacrifice fly scored Brendan Palmaccio to tie it at 6 in the top of the seventh and Matt Peterson came home from second on an errant throw for Ward Melville in League I. Chris Cepeda was 1-for-3 with two RBIs for the Patriots (12-3). WP – WM: Carballiera. LP – Gazzola. May 3
Longwood 1, Patchogue-Medford 0: Andruw Gazzola allowed three hits and struck out three in a complete game. Aaron Floyd hit a fourth-inning homer for Longwood (11-5) in League I. – Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 06 May 2014
Patchogue-Medford 2 Longwood 1, WP – PM: Martino. LP – Weiss. May 7
Garcia’s gem playoff-worthy Tosses shutout to lift Pat-Med to the postseason Martino, Codispoti also help Raiders in must-win
Cacciatore, Sal. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 11 May 2014
There is an old saying that “pressure bursts pipes.”
Andy Garcia and his Patchogue-Medford teammates apparently aren’t familiar with it.
Needing a win to qualify for the Suffolk Class AA baseball playoffs, Garcia struck out five and scattered five hits to lead the Raiders over visiting Longwood, 2-0, in the League I finale for both teams.
Garcia also drove in the game’s first run with a first-inning sacrifice fly before P.J. Martino doubled the Patchogue-Medford lead with an RBI single in the fifth.
“You just have to cancel everything out,” said Garcia, a junior, on how he handled the win-or-go-home scenario. “I had tunnel vision. I tune everybody out, it’s just you and the catcher.”
“Garcia was a man today,” said Raiders coach Anthony Frascogna, who won his 200th career game. “He said he was going to take care of business. He asked for this game earlier in the week and I had all the confidence in the world in him.”
Garcia also got help from his defense, which made a number of nice plays. None was bigger than leftfielder Matt Codispoti’s diving catch in the fourth inning.
With the tying run on second, Longwood’s Tim Kennedy hit a hard line drive to left, where Codispoti laid out to record the out.
Garcia said after Codispoti made the catch that he “just wanted to go out there and hug him. Oh my gosh!”
The Raiders (10-8) enter the playoffs having won seven of eight and will boast a formidable starting rotation of Garcia, Martino and senior Nick Clemente.
“We had great chemistry, we stayed positive and never got down,” Martino said of the team’s mentality over the season’s stretch run. Senior Martino, playing first base yesterday, was 2-for-3.
“I’m happy that the seniors get to play another day,” Frascogna said. “They’re a great group of guys. They deserve a chance to experience the playoffs together.”
Patchogue-Medford made the playoffs in 2012 but missed the postseason last season.
Raiders shortstop Brett Malm also was 2-for-3 and scored on Garcia’s sacrifice fly.
Longwood starting pitcher Aaron Floyd struck out three, walked one and allowed a run and two hits in four innings.
The Lions (11-7) entered the game having already qualified for the playoffs.
While Patchogue-Medford’s next opponent is to be determined, one things is certain:
When the playoffs start, the Raiders will be able to handle the pressure.
SCORECARD
PAT-MED 2
LONGWOOD 0
Suffolk
Class AA First Round
Connetquot 4, Longwood 1: Travis Bruinsma allowed five hits and struck out five in a complete game to lead No. 10 Connetquot over No. 7 Longwood. Bruinsma carried a no-hitter into the fifth. Brandon Morse (three RBIs) hit a two-run double to give Connetquot a 4-0 lead in the fifth. WP – CON: Bruinsma. LP – Weiss. May 14
SUFFOLK
Class AA Second Round – at higher seeds
(7) Longwood 7 (15) North Babylon 1, WP – LW: Simpson. LP – Baker. May 15
Morena leads North’s revival Junior throws four-hitter to keep Flaming Arrows alive Weinhofer gets clutch hit; Patane doubles home a run
Sarra, Gregg. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 17 May 2014:
Ominous skies and the threat of an early exit hung over Sachem North’s title hopes before yesterday’s Suffolk Class AA elimination baseball game with Longwood.
The top-seeded Flaming Arrows were coming off a heart wrenching, extra-inning loss to No.8 West Islip on Thursday that sent them to the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
“We’re a senior-laden team and I told them you don’t want to be home on the couch come Monday,” Sachem North skipper Tom Gambino said. “We were coming off a difficult loss and needed to rebound right away so the season doesn’t end.”
Junior righty Nick Morena knows a lot about pitching in a pressure-packed situation. He earned the win in the League II title-clincher over Connetquot.
Morena was spot-on again yesterday as he fired a four-hitter, struck out seven and walked one as Sachem North eliminated Longwood, 3-1, to advance and host Monday’s fourth-round game against No.6 Smithtown West.
“I was working with a quick pace, which I like,” said Morena, who improved to 6-1. “I had great rhythm and was working ahead of hitters.”
Morena was staked to a 1-0 first-inning lead when leadoff hitter Steven Foster singled, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a two-out single from John Weinhofer.
“That was a clutch hit and put us on top early,” Foster said. “It took all the pressure off.”
Sachem North (19-4) added two runs in the third. Rob Sciarrotta doubled off the 365-foot sign in left-center and scored on Tyler Patane’s opposite-field double. Patane scored on an infield error to make it 3-0.
“This was a nice bounce-back win,” Gambino said.
West Islip beat Sachem North, 12-8, in 10 innings in a game that was suspended and continued over two days.
“The difference between winning and losing in every playoff game is a matter of who makes the plays and who doesn’t,” Foster said. “Today we made all the plays and got the big hits and we move on after beating a great team that a lot of people thought could win the county crown.”
