By TONY BELLISSIMO
Nassau champion Calhoun, leading Suffolk champion Connetquot by one run with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, turned an unlikely double play to end the Thunderbirds' bases-loaded threat. Then in the seventh, the Colts cut down the potential tying run at home plate, and sophomore pitcher Andrew Raschen retired the next two batters with a runner on third to give them a 4-3 victory, the title, and a trip to the New York State Final Four.
"We're a team of destiny, there's no other way to explain it," Calhoun coach Joe Corea said. "This game had a little bit of everything. It didn't look too good for a while, but the kids hung in there and worked their way out of it. We couldn't be happier."
The Colts' remarkable season came within three feet of ending in disappointment. With a runner on first and no out in the seventh, Connetquot pitcher and No. 3 batter Scott King launched a drive off Raschen that hit the top half of the left-centerfield wall. Leftfielder Frank Locascio played the carom cleanly and fired the ball to shortstop Chris Yandoli. With Jon Pasieka turning for home, Yandoli turned and gunned a strike to catcher Chris Medici, who slapped the tag on Pasieka.
"I thought it was gone when it came off his bat," Calhoun third baseman John Frank said of King's shot. "I was just praying that it stayed in the park. The ball wasn't carrying too well today, and fortunately it didn't make it over."
But Raschen, who came on in relief of starter Jimmy Pinto with one out in the fifth, still had work to do.
King advanced to third as Pasieka was thrown out, putting the potential tying run just 90 feet away. With the infield in, Raschen caught a liner off the bat of James Healey for the second out. Now one out from the title, Raschen got two quick strikes on Brian Horrman. On the next pitch, Horrman hit a routine fly to right where an awaiting Phil Medici hauled it in for the final out.
A wild celebration followed.
"I caught the last out to clinch the county championship, and I wanted to catch this one so bad," Phil Medici said. "I was a little nervous, but we've played too great this season for it to end any other way."
Calhoun, which defeated East Meadow in three games to win the Nassau Class A crown, moves on to meet a yet-to-be-determined opponent this Saturday in a state semifinal at 10 a.m. in Rome, with the winner advancing to the championship game in the afternoon.
"It's a dream come true," said Frank, who made the big defensive play in the sixth, turning a third-to-first double play on Connetquot leadoff hitter Chris Wakefield.
Pinto battled through control problems to take a 1-0 lead into the fifth, thanks to his run-scoring single in the third. The Thunderbirds scratched across two runs in the fifth to take their first lead, but Pinto escaped major damage thanks to a running catch in centerfield by Jesse Germinerio.
"We've come up big defensively throughout the playoffs," Corea said. "Today we made four of our biggest plays of the year."
Down 2-1 in the sixth, the Colts rallied. Raschen was hit by a King pitch to open the inning, and Germinerio sacrificed pinch runner Matt Palladino to second. Frank singled to left, and his hard slide on James Rankin's grounder broke up a potential double play at second base and allowed him to reach third while Palladino scored. Frank scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, and Ron Gies, running for Rankin, later scored on an error to make it 4-2.
"As great as our pitching has been, we knew we needed more than one run to beat a team like Connetquot," Corea said.
The Thunderbirds cut the lead in half when Horrman led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer. Pinto, who allowed four hits and six walks and struck out five, faced two more batters before being lifted for Raschen.
"I brought up four of these kids as freshmen and they're all seniors now," Corea said, referring to the Medicis, Frank and Pinto. "They talked about accomplishing this and worked hard for four years. This year all the pieces fit around them. It's just an amazing feeling."
Calhoun will face Schenectady in the first game of the state championship.
