Lynbrook back in win column

Entering the 2018 high school baseball season, Lynbrook coach Al Marrazzo knew there could be some growing pains. His team was coming off a 14-win campaign and a league title, but he would be reloading his roster with a slew of talented, yet untested, underclassmen. 

The Northeast’s seemingly never-ending nasty winter didn’t help matters for a young squad trying to find its way. Making thing far more difficult were a bunch of postponements that forced Lynbrook to play a half dozen games over an eight-day period in April. 

The Owls got the season off to a decent start, taking three of their first four games, but a recent six-game losing streak against two of the league’s top teams left Lynbrook in a tough spot with just one series left to play.

Lynbrook (7-9 in Conference A-III) finally got off the schneid with a dramatic come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Valley Stream North on Monday afternoon, and hopes to have righted the ship. 

The Owls trailed 4-0 entering the sixth inning, but put five runs on the board in the bottom of the frame to take the lead. Three of the runs came after two had been retired. Senior Ryan Mueller went the distance and stuck out nine. Sophomore catcher Anthony Ulrich tied things up at 4-4 with a single, and then scored the winning run on an error. Senior Sean Sebazco knocked home a pair of runs, and Dan Dalrymple was 2-for-3. 

Marrazzo expects his team to continue to grow. “We’re very young, so there’s going to be inconsistency,” Marrazzo said. “We’re still refining things. We let a few games get away from us where the defense hurt us. It happens. I just want to see them work hard down the stretch, not give away at-bats, and play with a lot of heart and passion. Hopefully, we can get ourselves into the playoff mix.”

Mueller has been a workhorse on the mound for the Owls, picking up four of the team’s seven wins. He was masterful in a one-hit effort when Lynbrook shutout Lawrence 7-0 early on in the season. Mueller also displayed a flair for the dramatic when he launched a three-run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh to tie the score in a game the Owls eventually lost to North Shore.

Senior Taner Ceylan has done a fantastic job patrolling center field for the Owls, and has a 1-1 record when called on to pitch. Ceylan threw six scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory over Bethpage. Dalrymple, a sophomore who can pitch and play both second and third base, and Ulrich are big parts of the present and future of Lynbrook baseball. 

Sophomore outfielder Nick Focarazzo, a player that Marrazzo says does everything well, has opened up a lot of eyes with the glove and bat. 

The Owls will close out the regular season with a non-league game against East Rockaway on Friday night at 7 at Bay Park.