Lynbrook earns important win

Lynbrook baseball coach Al Marrazzo had a clear message for his team before last week’s series finale against Conference A-III rival Glen Cove, which took the first two games to leapfrog the Owls in the standings.

“I told our guys to treat it like a playoff game because it was huge to avoid a sweep,” Marrazzo said.

The Owls responded to the message and scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to back the pitching of senior Ryan Coughlin in a 9-2 victory on April 30. Sophomore Paul Scibelli, a recent call-up from the JV, had the big hit — a three-run triple in the inning. Sophomores Tom Sullivan and Domenick Sinopoli followed with back-to-back run-scoring doubles to cap the outburst.

“No doubt we needed it,” Marrazzo said. “We’re kind of the walking wounded right now, but we’re still in position to make the playoffs. We have our bye week coming up, and it couldn’t be happening at a better time.”

Coughlin pitched well for a second straight outing, Marrazzo said. He went six innings and scattered five hits while striking out four. “We’re down a couple of pitchers and Ryan has stepped up,” Marrazzo said. “He’s a tough competitor. He threw strikes and navigated around Glen Cove’s big hitters.”

Junior Tyler Garrett has been the mainstay in a rotation minus senior Mike Mallon (broken thumb) and sophomore Justin Baeyens (elbow) as of last week. Marrazzo is hopeful both Mallon and Baeyens can return for the final regular-season series against North Shore starting next Monday on the road.

“Tyler’s been tremendous,” Marrazzo said of Garrett, who has won four of five decisions. “He’s in the strike zone consistently, he’s got a really good knuckle-drop, and he’s not afraid to throw inside.” Garrett recorded wins over Valley Stream North, Bethpage, Floral Park and Lawrence before falling to Glen Cove on April 28. He’ll get the nod in the series opener against North Shore, as well as the playoff opener should the Owls qualify.

Lynbrook is 8-7 and tied for third place with Valley Stream North. The top four teams advance to postseason play, where the Owls could welcome back senior shortstop Luke Aprile back to the lineup. Aprile, the offensive catalyst and defensive anchor, was diagnosed with mono last week and is out indefinitely. “There’s a chance Luke could play again,” Marrazzo said. “We have to see how it goes. Whether he can play or not, hopefully he gets better soon.”

Sophomore Nick Tuzzio moved from second base to spell Aprile at shortstop, with junior Will Tucker taking over at second. Marrazzo was also forced to do some shifting behind the plate and used Baeyens to fill in for senior Nick Roepken, who was dealing with an illness. In back-to-back wins over Lawrence on April 23-24, Roepken totaled 10 RBIs.

Senior Frank Candreva stayed hot at the plate in the win over Glen Cove with a couple of hits, including a run-scoring triple, and junior Anthony Neal, the leadoff batter with Aprile out, also had two hits.

“Hopefully the week off does us a lot of good and we can close out with a good series against North Shore,” Marrazzo said.