By Tom Jordan
Their reign at the top has come to an end, or at least has been put on hold, but the Sailors see no reason to hang their heads.
"The seniors will leave with a 59-19 record over the past three seasons," coach Andy Morris said. "They should leave here with great memories. I'm proud of what they did."
What they did was win back-to-back county championships in 2000 and 2001, becoming the first Oceanside team in 40 years to win a county title. Two seasons ago, they won the New York State championship with terrific pitching, timely hitting and steady defense. The pitching and hitting were still solid this season, but fielding woes ultimately did them in during their 11-11 campaign.
"We made up for that a lot of times with our offense," Morris said. "You can't always do that."
In the playoffs, the Sailors ran into a hot pitcher. Joe Esposito, who started the season as a reliever for Baldwin, blanked Oceanside on two hits. Dom DiDomenico led off the game with a single, but the Sailors wouldn't get another until John Trotta singled in the seventh.
It's not often the Oceanside offense is shut down.
Their best chance to get on the board came in the fourth. Trailing 6-0, Eric Mapplethorpe, Jon Kourie and John Jata drew walks, but the Sailors could not get the big hit and Esposito escaped unscathed. Baldwin scored five times in the fifth and Oceanside never threatened again.
"Esposito is a big reason for where Baldwin is. He got better as the season went on," Morris said. "He pitched a great game."
The Sailors also hurt themselves with seven errors.
"It's disappointing," Morris said. "We'd like to have played a better game but there's not a whole lot you can do to change things. We knew we had some holes coming into the season. Now we have to rebuild for next season."
Morris said there is exceptional talent on the junior varsity, and there is plenty of experience returning to the varsity. Sophomore Matt Wynn was solid on the mound (2-3, 3.29 earned run average) and at the plate (.368 average, 17 runs batted in). He wasn't the only sophomore standout; Frank Valeriano, batted .333, Dan Kourie hit .318 with five homeruns and 15 RBIs. Juniors C.J. China, David Krajewski, Matt Martin, Pete Medaro, Joe Migliano and Vinnie Pumo all had solid seasons.
DiDomenico, Trotta, Jon Kourie, John Jata, Mike Cascio, Chris Frank, Mike Franzese, Jimmy Herold, John Pisani, Joey Pumo and Keith Van Wickler are the seniors. Kourie (347, 19 RBIs) and Jata (449, 26 RBIs) were selected to the all-county team, DiDomenico (.429) was an all-conference selection.
They'll be tough to replace, but they will also take some great memories with them.
"We've had a nice run," said Morris, who has coached the Sailors to the playoffs for five straight seasons.
