Spartans' playoff run ends

An impressive and emotional run in the Nassau Class A baseball playoffs ended for Valley Stream North last Friday with a 3-1 defeat at Division in Game 3 of their quarterfinal series.

The 13th-seeded Spartans, who sent Mineola and Garden City packing, pushed the third-seeded Dragons to the brink in coach Wally Bachman’s final season. North left 10 runners in scoring position, including the bases loaded in the first and second innings, in the decisive game.

“I’m going out as proud as I’ve ever been of any team I’ve coached in 37 years,” Bachman said. “The kids played their hearts out. It was an unbelievable run.

“We had a chance to put up some runs early, but we didn’t get that one big hit we needed,” he added.

North senior Greg Gonzalez and Division’s Sean Abbate both had strong games on the mound, allowing five and six hits, respectively. The Dragons scored twice in the bottom of the third and never looked back.

“We couldn’t have asked for much more from Greg,” Bachman said. “He pitched great.”

The Spartans (15-8 overall) dropped Game 1, 8-6, but built some confidence for the second game with a late five-run rally. Their momentum carried over to Game 2 when, before a standing-room-only crowd, All-County senior Ryan Kenny crushed a three-run homer to break a fifth-inning tie in a 10-2 victory.

“Division has one of the richest baseball traditions in the county,” Bachman said. “We walked off the field after Game 1 knowing we could play with them.”

Senior All-County pitcher Ryan Garcia was masterful in Game 2, scattering five hits and striking out eight. He finished the year with a record of 6-1 and a 1.50 ERA. Senior Tino Muscatelli added a two-run double in the fifth, which saw North score eight times to wow the crowd.

“It was the biggest crowd I’ve seen for a baseball game at North in almost 20 years,” volunteer assistant coach/statistician Paul Kay explained.