By STEVE SINISKI
Top-ranked Clarke (20-5-1) hammered its way back into the best-of-three championship series, clobbering the Vikings for a total of 31 runs in a two-game sweep last week. The clincher, an 18-3 victory on May 28, extended the Rams winning streak to 10 and ended a day in which the two teams finished up a partial one-day doubleheader.
Clarke advanced to the finals for the fifth time in the last seven years to face No. 2 Division in a best-of-three series that began last Monday at SUNY-Farmingdale. The Rams dropped the opener, 4-2, and needed to win twice to advance. The winner moves on to the Long Island Class A Championship scheduled for Sunday at noon against Islip at Stony Brook University.
"Right now everyone's swinging well," Clarke coach Tom Abruscato said. "We're making the adjustments that we didn't make earlier in the year."
With the opener postponed due to rain in the top of the fifth and Clarke leading by 10 in a game they ultimately won, 13-3, the two teams finished up the final three innings then hit the buses for a trip to Seaford for the second game. "It was something different," Abruscato added. "Instead of taking batting practice before a game, we finished a game."
Suffice to say, the Rams didn't forget their bats on the way to Game 2, where junior John Schilt had four runs batted in and senior Kenny Schmidt added three RBIs. Senior left-hander Travis Kakareko notched the win.
The hitting hero in Game 2, Schilt, was also part of a two-man tandem that struck out 13 Vikings batters in the opener. Senior Damien Bertuzzi worked three innings of relief, striking out six, including the side in the fifth inning. Seniors Rob Iovino and Mike Jungen each blasted home runs in the bottom of the first to jump-start the offense. "Iovino's our leading hitter," Abruscato said. "He's been our most consistent guy and had a nice playoff run as well."
Preaching patience against Seaford starter Sean Nolin, the Rams got even after the All-County pitcher one-hit them in mid-April. "We had good at bats against him," Abruscato said. "We didn't chase anything up and he got behind. He came in with fastballs behind in the count and we were able to get good [swings]."
And now Clarke finds itself back in familiar territory-the Class A championship series-where it's aiming for a fourth title in the last eight years. In battling the Blue Dragons, the Rams matched up against an opponent it split the regular season series with, 1-1-1. "They're fundamentally sound and they do a lot of the small, little things right," Abruscato said. "I don't see the teams beating themselves."
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