By STEVE SINISKI
The Rams have conquered everything on the baseball diamond, so what¹s one more challenge for a team that ended the year with a school-record 25-game winning streak?
Clarke turned in another pair of complete victories last Saturday in upstate Binghamton, hammering Section VI representative Williamsville East 8-0, and then finishing the day with an 8-2 victory over Section IX¹s Cornwall.
³It¹s very weird,² Clarke coach Tom Abruscato said, noting a number of eerie similarities between the school¹s two state-champion squads. ³We had a hard-throwing righty and a crafty left-hander. Both of our losses in 2002 were to Wantagh and Lynbrook, and we faced two supposedly unhittable pitchers.²
An error plated the Rams¹ first two runs in the opening inning of the championship round, and their lead steadily grew to 3-0, then 6-0 after a two-run double by Steve Stewart in the fifth.
It was only after Clarke went up 8-0 in the sixth that Cornwall finally broke through against left-hander Corey Kirsh. After allowing two runs in the frame ‹ just one of them earned ‹ the Diamond Award finalist retired the final three batters in order, completing a four-hit, one-walk performance with five strikeouts.
³They were a very good team,² Abruscato said of Cornwall. ³They made some adjustments against Kirsh that a lot of [other] teams didn¹t do.²
A familiar pair of faces ‹ Matt Weingartner and Adam Kamen ‹ led the way at the plate, banging out a combined five hits in eight at-bats in the clincher after leading the charge for the Rams in the Long Island Championship on May 29.
Larry Buffalino finished the double-header having reached base seven times in nine plate appearances, while Brian Andriani hammered three hits in the championship win. ³We had the leadoff man on in each of the first four innings,² Abruscato said.
Junior Mike Appell got the Rams on the board in the bottom of the first inning of the semifinal round by cracking an RBI double. The 1-0 lead swelled to 3-0 in the third and 8-0 after two more runs crossed the plate in the fifth.
From there, Stewart took over, limiting Williamsville East to four hits and four walks and striking out 11. He bested Williamsville East¹s staff ace, Zack Andersen, who hadn¹t allowed a run in the postseason.
³It turned out to be a good [pitching] matchup [for us],² Abruscato said. ³They were a dead-red fastball-hitting team and Stewart throws 85-86 miles an hour. He was able to blow a few away, but his breaking ball was the perfect match. We hit [Anderson] early and he folded.²
A number of Rams were honored for their individual play this season, including four who garnered All-County honors. Stewart and Kirsh were joined on the team by Appell, who led the Rams with 33 runs batted in, and Corey Itts, Clarke¹s new single-season leader in home runs, with eight.
Buffalino, Josh Cuozzo and Bryan Russo earned All-Conference nominations, while Kamen and Eddie Luft were All-League. Weingartner, Andriani and Ryan Schilt were All-League honorable mention.
If there¹s something Clarke opponents should fear next season, it¹s the return of five regulars to its 2006 lineup. ³We¹re not a senior-heavy team,² Abruscato said. ³With everyone coming back, we¹d love to go back-to-back.²
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