Cougars break new ground

It didn't take long for Kennedy to work out any nerves it may have had in its Nassau Class AA best-of-three baseball series with the defending county and Long Island champions, fourth-seeded Massapequa last week.

It took one batter, to be exact, as sophomore shortstop Noah Shulman cracked a home run leading off the top of the first in Game 1 on May 17. The Cougars (11-10 overall) followed up that 4-1 victory with a 5-2 win two days later to sweep the series.

"I think it energized us," coach Eric Passman said of the homer, which was hit into the gap in right-center. "When you go to Massapequa, it's very tough and the fans are very intense. It set the tone for us a little bit."

The sweep catapulted the sixth-seeded Cougars into their first-ever semifinal appearance against No. 1 MacArthur, in a three-game series. The Generals lost three games all year, one of which was against Kennedy.

The Cougars won the first game at Massapequa as senior pitcher Robbie Stalzer went the distance allowing just five hits and striking out seven. His biggest jam came in the sixth when the Chiefs loaded the bases with one out but had the rally ended on a double play. Senior second baseman Michael Crespino backhanded a ground ball in the hole and flipped to Shulman, whose throw to junior first baseman Evan Crohn closed out the inning. "We've had [Robbie] for three years and I know when he's out of gas," Passman said of his faith in Stalzer. "He was fine and just missing his spots a little."

Junior Andrew Wood kept his perfect season alive as the No. 3 starter, improving to 4-0 and leading the Cougars to the series-clinching win. "Robbie set Massapequa up with his fastball and curves and Andrew kept them off-balance," Passman said. "We didn't have a lot of hitting, but it was timely hitting and we didn't make any errors. [Massapequa's] battle-tested. They've been through the playoffs for years. Any time you make an error in a big spot or leave runners on base, they capitalize."

Wood struck out four in the complete game effort and was backed by an offense that produced four runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to erase a 1-0 deficit. Senior catcher Joe Gallitto's double drove in a pair and Wood helped his own cause with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.