PATCHOGUE, NY – On Friday afternoon, the second-seeded Maritime College baseball team opened the Skyline Conference Tournament with a matchup against Purchase, the No. 6 seed. The Privateers (28-13) scored seven runs in the second inning, highlighted by a
Matt Milone (Farmingville, NY) grand slam, before holding off the Panthers (22-20) by a 14-10 count at St. Joseph's LI's Gregg Alfano Field.
After both teams scored in the first, Purchase regained the lead on Trevor Zanderzuk's RBI groundout in the top of the second. Maritime responded with a seven-spot in the bottom half of the inning, however.
Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY) started the rally with a leadoff double before scoring on
Michael Frazzetta's (Howard Beach, NY) double.
Vasilios Vafakos (Astoria, NY) followed with an RBI single before
Freddy Forgione (Ronkonkoma, NY) drew a walk with the bases loaded. That brought up Milone, who made it 8-2 with a grand slam to left center.
Purchase got one back on Tyler Della Mura's homer in the top of the fourth, then the Panthers put up four in the fifth to pull within 8-7. Frank Rega and Cameron Cruz each belted a two-run double in the inning.
The Privateers pushed the margin back to three at 10-7 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Forgione lifted a sacrifice fly to right before Milone ripped an RBI double down the left field line. Maritime then added two more on Frazzetta's long ball in the sixth. After Purchase scored twice in the top of the seventh,
Jaden Shea (Severn, MD) delivered a two-run single in the bottom half of the inning. The Panthers picked up one in the eighth, but
Jack Kellner (Seaford, NY) shut the door in the ninth to finish off the 14-10 victory.
Every Maritime starter had at least one hit and scored at least one run. Milone finished 2-for-3 with a homer, a double, two runs scored and five RBIs, while
Anthony Madigan (Greenlawn, NY) was 4-for-6 with three runs scored. She went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run, and Frazzetta ended up 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Ian Wilson (Bayonne, NJ) also scored twice.
Mattew Demme (Carmel, NY) got the start on the mound and lasted 4.2 innings. He allowed seven runs on eight hits, struck out two and walked three.
William Chu (Port Washington, NY) (3-0) earned the win after retiring all four batters he faced, while
Shane Sullivan (Stewart Manor, NY) and
Joseph Sorge (Montgomery, NY) each tossed an inning of relief before Kellner pitched the ninth.
Della Mura reached base five times for the Panthers, going 2-for-2 with a home run and also drawing three walks. He scored four runs. Cruz was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Zanderzuk finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Liam Daly added two hits for Purchase. Starting pitcher Brandon Reybok (3-3) took the loss. He gave up seven runs on seven hits and a walk in an inning-plus of work. Jonathan Uzzo pitched four innings out of the bullpen, then gave way to Justin Doskoez and Mason Compton.
With the win, Maritime advanced to face top-seeded St. Joseph's LI (28-9) in the semifinals at 12 p.m. on Saturday. The winner of that contest will move directly into Sunday's championship round, while the loser will play Purchase, which beat Merchant Marine 9-7 later on Friday in an elimination game, immediately after for the other spot in the final.
