THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College baseball team boasts some of the best starting pitching in the Skyline Conference.  That was on full display on Saturday, as Matt Demme (Carmel, NY) and Brandon Stanley (Trinity, FL) combined to pitch 15 shutout innings in a doubleheader sweep of St. Joseph's Brooklyn at Reinhart Baseball Field.  Demme tossed a complete game in the opener, a 5-0 victory, while Stanley went eight innings in the Privateers' (12-4, 2-0 Skyline) 7-0 Game 2 win over the Bears (3-15, 0-4 Skyline).

After Demme worked around four singles in the first two innings of Game 1, the Maritime offense gave him all the run support he'd need in the bottom of the second.  Rob Copozzi (Center Moriches, NY), Jaden Shea (Severn, MD) and Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY) all walked to load the bases, then Ian Wilson (Bayonne, NJ) was hit by a pitch, knocking in Copozzi.  Anthony Madigan (Greenlawn, NY) was up next, and he crushed a grand slam to left that made it 5-0.

Demme, meanwhile, retired 14 of 15 batters faced from the second to the seventh, with the only hitter who reached (on an error) erased on a double play.  That stretch ended with one out in the seventh, when St. Joseph's Brooklyn put two runners on.  George Demacopoulos then ripped a two-out, pinch-hit single to load the bases.  Demme struck out pinch hitter Chris Arcati looking, however, to finish off his third career complete game shutout.

He held St. Joseph's Brooklyn to six singles and didn't walk a batter.  The win was the 18^th of his career, making Demme (5-0) Maritime's all-time leader.

Brian Sanchez (0-1) got the start on the mound for the Bears and lasted 1.1 innings.  He allowed five runs on one hit and five walks while striking out two.  Jake McDonald pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, holding the Privateers to a pair of hits and issuing one walk.  He notched a strikeout, as well.

Game 2 started off as a pitchers' duel between Stanley and Dylan Cantwell.  Both pitchers put up zeroes over the first six innings, with Stanley working out of three two-on, one-out jams.  Cantwell, meanwhile, benefited from two double plays.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Privateers broke through for seven runs.  Logan Martinson (Sumner, WA) singled leading off the inning, then stole second before scoring on Shea's double off the wall in right center.  After Ventura and Blake Gnepper (Ottawa Hills, OH) both walked to load the bases, Madigan delivered a two-run single.  Freddy Forgione (Ronkonkoma, NY) followed with a two-run single of his own, increasing the lead to 5-0.  Two more came across when Copozzi beat out a grounder to second and the throw to first was wild.

Stanley (5-1) set the Bears down in order in the eighth, ending his day with eight consecutive outs.  He allowed seven singles and didn't walk a batter while striking out five.  Brett Buschman (Walkersville, MD) gave up one hit and walked one in the ninth.

Offensively, the Privateers collected 10 hits, with Shea going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.  Forgione was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs (giving him six in the doubleheader), and Forgione finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs.

For the Bears, Matt Arcati went 3-for-4 and Sam Schneeberg added a pair of singles.  Cantwell held Maritime scoreless over six innings and took a no-decision.  He scattered four hits, struck out three and walked two.  Thomas Gamba-Ellis (0-5) was charged with the loss after surrendering five runs on three hits and two walks in 0.1 innings.  He recorded one strikeout.  Mike Dedella tossed the final 1.2 innings, yielding two runs (one earned) on three hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Maritime hits the road on Monday for a non-conference matchup with Eastern Connecticut (14-5) that gets underway at 5 p.m.