THROGGS NECK, NY – Despite a steady rain throughout, the Maritime College baseball team was able to play a doubleheader against SUNY Poly at Reinhart Baseball Field on Saturday.  After the Wildcats (6-10) won a 13-12 shootout in the opener, the Privateers (10-7) took the second game by a 10-3 count.  Game two was called due to weather in the bottom of the sixth inning.

In a wild game one that saw the lead change hands five times, Maritime struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.  Christian Ark (Rocky Point, NY) drew a bases loaded walk before Jaden Shea (Severn, MD) lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in the Privateers' second run.  After the Wildcats took the lead with three in the top of the second, Maritime tied it when Matt Milone (Farmingville, NY) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half of the inning.

SUNY Poly went back in front on Carter Romansky's two-run homer (his second home run of the game) in the third, but Maritime again immediately responded, as Shea belted a solo home run and Milone drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.  The Privateers then took the lead on Ark's two-run single in the bottom of the fourth.  SUNY Poly scored one in the fifth to make it 7-6 before regaining the advantage with a four-spot in the sixth.

Now trailing 10-7, Maritime got two back when Ark doubled home a pair in the bottom of the sixth.  However, Alexander Bonacci hit a three-run homer in the top of the seventh to extend the Wildcats' cushion to 13-9.  With two down in the bottom of the seventh, Nick Pinggera (Kings Park, NY) doubled before Freddy Forgione (Ronkonkoma, NY) crushed a two-run homer to left.  Rob Copozzi (Center Moriches, NY) followed with a solo shot, but that would be it, and the Privateers came up a run short, 13-12.

As a team, Maritime collected 14 hits in game one, with Pinggera and Anthony Madigan (Greenlawn, NY) both finishing 3-for-5.  Pinggera also scored three times.  Forgione was 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs and four runs scored, while Ark went 2-for-4 with five RBIs.  Shane Sullivan (Stewart Manor, NY) got the start on the mound and lasted 4.1 innings.  He gave up six runs (four earned) on eight hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.  Jack Kellner (Seaford, NY) (0-1) took the loss after allowing four unearned runs and three hits over 1.2 innings.  He struck out four and walked one.

Bonacci ended up a triple short of the cycle for SUNY Poly.  He went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBIs.  Romansky reached base all four times, drawing a pair of walks to go along with his two home runs.  Ryan Pelton, meanwhile, finished 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.  Starting pitcher Connor Marcello yielded three runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks in two innings.  Salvatore Mecca (1-0) earned the win after surrendering four runs (three earned) and three hits over three innings of relief.  He struck out two and walked three.  Aaron Kifer pitched the final two innings, giving up three runs on four hits and posting his first save.

Maritime was already leading 1-0 when there was a 45-minute rain delay in the bottom of the first inning in game two.  After the rain delay, Shea made it 2-0 with an RBI fielder's choice.  Madigan added an RBI double in the second before Chris Felder (Wallingford, PA) and Milone hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the third.

Romansky's double put the Wildcats on the board in the top of the fourth, but the Privateers immediately got that run back on Copozzi's RBI double in the bottom half of the inning.  Madigan then belted a three-run homer in the fifth to increase the lead to 9-1.  After SUNY Poly scored two in the top of the sixth, Copozzi and Ark walked to start the bottom of the sixth.  Shea doubled home a run before Felder walked and Milone was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  With the rain intensifying and the playing conditions becoming unsafe, the game was called at that point and declared a 10-3 Maritime win.

Madigan had two hits, including his three-run homer, giving him five for the doubleheader.  Shea was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored, while Forgione, Felder and Milone all crossed the plate twice.  Brandon Stanley (Swedesboro, NY) (5-0) continued his solid start to the season, tossing the first five innings on the mound.  He was charged with three runs on five hits while striking out eight and walking three.  Haydn Strycharz (Pittstown, NJ) walked the only batter he faced before Joseph Sorge (Montgomery, NY) recorded three straight strikeouts.

For the Wildcats, Paul Barber was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.  Bonacci got his triple in game two, completing a cycle for the day.  He also scored a run.  Starting pitcher Jack Montanye (2-2) allowed three runs (one earned) on two hits while walking three and striking out one over 1.1 innings in a losing effort.  Sam Vainauskas and Alex Quig followed him on the mound.

On Sunday, the Privateers return to action with a pair of games against John Jay (2-16) at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn.  The 12 p.m. twinbill is Maritime's final doubleheader before the start of Skyline Conference play.