By Marley Seaman
"We came out and we beat Seaford, 5-1. I couldn't believe it," said head coach Bob Russo. "It was a nice sendoff for the seniors who worked hard for me for the last two years."
Behind a strong pitching performance from senior co-captain Mike Englander, the Rams stayed close to the second-ranked Wolves throughout the game. In the top of the sixth inning, powered by a two-run Greg Bosch triple and a triple from Ryan Metz, they added four runs to put the game out of reach.
"What really surprised was was Mike Englander probably pitched the game of his life, holding Seaford down to one run on six hits in seven innings," Russo said. West Hempstead pulled out the victory despite having the bare minimum of ten players available.
"I'm really proud of my guys for sticking with it through a rough time," said Russo. The final-day victory over Seaford was only West Hempstead's second of the year. Their record was 2-16-1.
Russo said that Englander, who did not see much playing time in 2005, was his most improved player.
"He worked hard over the summer," said Russo. "He kinda held the team together through a lot of rough times."
Also graduating are centerfielder Matt Grieve, who was lost for the season after dislocating his shoulder during a game, and James Daly, who Russo called the ace of his staff.
"Jimmy had a good year, except what killed him is the defense tended to let him down," said the coach. "It wasn't uncommon for him to take the mound and for us to make five or six errors on defense behind him."
The Rams played Seaford three times during the week. The other two games came on May 17. Seaford took those contests by scores of 10-0 and 7-3.
In the first game, Seaford's Joe Tebaldi and Bobby Klennert each went 3-for-3, and starter Sean Nolin allowed only three hits in six innings of shutout work, striking out nine Rams. Nolin, who did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, is now 8-0 on the season. The fireballing lefty has struck out 83 batters on the year, putting him among the top strikeout pitchers on Long Island.
Seaford got to Daly early in that game, scoring twice in the first inning, and broke the game open in the second. Kyle Haiss and Frank Napolitano singled to start the frame, and Tim Goll walked with one out to load the bases. After Rich McCarren knocked in a run with a force out, Klennart plated a Napolitano with an infield single to shortstop. Tebaldi then took a single to left field for his first RBI of the game. Bill Beovich re-loaded the bases on an infield hit, and Daly forced another run home by hitting Greg Oliva with a pitch. A wild pitch allowed Tebaldi to score the final run of the inning.
Tebaldi's other hits were a pair of long triples to right center; one was hit so hard that it broke his bat. He walked in his other plate appearance and drove in three runs. Klennart drove in two.
As he looks forward to 2007, Russo said he expects some of his more experienced returning players to lead the team. Brian Donohue will anchor the pitching staff, while outfielder Kevin Cloghessy and shortshop Zack Hill will be crucial to the Rams' quest to improve.
