By STEVE SINISKI
"During the season, he had some struggles at times with the strike zone," coach Tom Abruscato said of Schilt. "Today he was outstanding. When you throw two and three different pitches for strikes, you're going to win."
While Schilt made the most of his pitches, Clarke (23-3-1 overall) made good use of its six hits off Buccaneers starter Ed Macaluso. Three of them went for extra bases, including doubles by junior shortstop Connor McCarthy in the third inning and senior designated hitter Kris Guy in the fifth. Senior catcher Rob Iovino brought both of them home with two-out, run-scoring singles in each inning.
The Rams won their third Long Island title - all in this decade - and advanced to the state semifinal round at Broome Community College on Saturday, scheduled for 10 a.m. The championship game is set for 4 p.m. that day. In two previous trips upstate, in 2002 and 2005, Clarke came away with state titles.
As much of an impact as Iovino had with his bat, his best work may have come behind the plate in the fourth inning, when he threw out Macaluso on an attempted steal of third by a country mile. Macaluso had reached first on an error to open the frame and advanced to second when the next hitter, R. J. Going, singled to center. With a 1-2 count on cleanup hitter Brian Papszycki, Macaluso took off for third, but had no chance thanks to the strong throw from Iovino to senior third baseman Brian Sundberg.
"Sundberg made a great pick at third," Abruscato said. "It was a great throw by Iovino, because you always want it low and at the bag."
The out took on even greater importance because the Buccaneers scored their only run on the very next pitch, when Tom Kriss singled to drive in Going from second and tie the score at 1-1. Schilt then induced a flyout to junior center fielder John Chodkowski to end the inning.
Macaluso came out with the heat in the early going, throwing 13 of his first 15 pitches for strikes and striking out the first four batters he faced. After McCarthy boomed his double down the left field line on the first pitch he saw with one out in the third, however, the tide began to turn. Junior John Radice blasted a first-pitch double over the third baseman's head in the fifth, which was quickly followed by a run-scoring triple to the warning track by junior right fielder Ryan Sloane to put the Rams ahead for good, 2-1.
"We were a little late," Abruscato said, noting that Macaluso's pitching pattern centered on fastballs to start each batter. "Maybe our socks were a little tight early on."
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
Clarke holds off Island Trees, wins county title
By STEVE SINISKI
Sometimes, a little confidence can go a long way.
For top-seeded Clarke, it meant the program's fourth Nassau County baseball championship in the last eight seasons and first since 2005, as senior left-hander Brian Sundberg finished off a 5-4 victory in the third and deciding game against No. 2 Island Trees on June 4 at SUNY-Farmingdale.
After the Bulldogs scored twice in the top of the sixth, a one-out double by Anthony Mele in the seventh put the tying run in scoring position with the meat of the Island Trees order coming up to the plate. A meeting at the mound after the hit left little doubt as to who would be finishing the game on the rubber. "He told me to 'be yourself,'" Sundberg said of coach Tom Abruscato. "He told me I had been doing it all year and he had confidence in me which is good because it calmed my nerves."
Sundberg induced a fielder's choice back to the mound and struck out the Bulldogs No. 5 hitter, Mike Pellegrino on a high fastball to touch off a celebration between the mound and home plate.
"He's a horse," Abruscato said of Sundberg, who went the distance scattering 11 hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. "He doesn't walk a lot of guys and he's a flat-out winner. He's been doing it for two years now."
The Rams walked Bryan Verbitsky intentionally, deciding instead to pitch to cleanup hitter Brandon Garcia. "He's got cartoon power and he hit a 475-foot home run against us at Clarke [during the regular season]," Abruscato said of Verbitsky. "As a competitor you want to go at him. But he's got tremendous bat speed and tremendous balance."
The move worked like a charm, as Garcia grounded back to Sundberg whose throw to second baseman Ryan Schreiber forced out Verbitsky.
Defense and strong pitching keyed Clarke's championship run, and both were on full display in the decisive game. After the Bulldogs plated two runs in the sixth to trim a three-run deficit to just one, Sundberg struck out designated hitter Dominick Raucci before catching Pellegrino between third and home on a grounder back to the mound. Schilt tagged Pellegrino out between third and home after a brief chase. Sundberg then induced a harmless grounder to junior first baseman John Radice to end the threat.
The Rams didn't get off on the right foot in the top of the first, as the first three Island Trees batters reached base and two scored. Clarke answered the Bulldogs opening-inning scoring by netting two runs of their own as Radice crushed a two-run double to drive in junior Tom Fusco and Schilt. Radice struck again in the fifth when he laced a single to right to score Schilt, opening up a 5-2 lead.
It took a six-run rally in the sixth inning of Game 2 on June 3 for Clarke to even the series after dropping Game 1.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
