Marines seek a strong finish

Long Beach’s offense came alive April 16 with a season-high seven runs, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Plainview in a Conference AA-III/IV baseball crossover game as the Marines allowed a season-high eight.

“We took a two-run lead into the seventh, but they scored three times without an out,” Long Beach coach Jason Zizza said. “It was definitely one we let get away. It was our best offensive day of the season by far.

“The kids were disappointed and frustrated, but they came back the next day and had a great practice,” he added.

Trailing 7-5, the Hawks got within a run on a fielder’s choice. David Glass singled home the tying run, and Jake Saltzman singled home the winning run. The Marines, who fell to 1-5 in conference play and 2-5 overall, scored twice in the first, on a two-run single by freshman Sam Brinster, four times in the fourth on run-scoring hits by senior Tim Brosnan, Brinster, senior Andrew Klang, and senior Amarali Kahn, and once in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by senior Eric Zeppa.

“Sometimes you have to have a short-term memory,” Zizza said. “It’s definitely not the start we were looking for, but there’s a long way to go. We’re fortunate nobody is running away with the conference.”

Pitching has kept Long Beach close in every game, Zizza explained. The team’s earned run average through seven games is 2.60. Its starting rotation features senior Conor Lieberman, freshman Matteo Camarda and junior Justin Rodriguez. While they’re all in search of their first victory in 2015, they’ve all had a pair of quality outings.

Camarda blanked Plainview into the eighth inning of Long Beach’s 1-0 win in 10 innings on April 14. He allowed just four hits and walked two while striking out five. Brinster recorded the last eight outs and also scored the winning run on Zeppa’s dribbler between the pitcher’s mound and the third-base line. “We had two freshmen combine for 10 scoreless innings,” Zizza said. “It was awesome.”

Brinster led off the 10th with a single and senior Stephen Richards, who has yet to make an error at second base, followed with a bunt single. One out later, a walk loaded the bases for Zeppa.

Brinster, who hasn’t allowed a run in 5 2/3 innings of relief and has hits in five of eight plate appearances, is going to see an uptick in playing time, Zizza said. Camarda has allowed only seven hits in 11 1/3 innings. “They’re mixing it up well,” Zizza said.

Long Beach suffered a pair of 4-0 defeats to MacArthur, and a 2-1 setback to Valley Stream Central. The Marines were no-hit by MacArthur’s Jack Wall on April 13, but had the tying run on-deck in the first meeting between the teams on April 9.

“We’ve shown we can play with everyone,” Zizza said. “We just have to start collecting some wins.”

Long Beach begins a three-game set with Calhoun on the road Monday at 4:45 p.m.