RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ – The Maritime College baseball team scored 99 runs in six games last week.  On Friday, the Privateers crossed the plate 37 times in a doubleheader sweep of Yeshiva.  After taking the opener by a 14-2 count, Maritime (26-12, 14-6 Skyline) earned a 23-1 win over the Maccabees (0-24, 0-18 Skyline) in the second game at Ridgefield Park.

Maritime immediately struck for eight runs in the top of the first inning in Game 1.  Anthony Madigan (Greenlawn, NY) capped the rally with a two-run homer.  The Privateers added two more in the second, then increased their lead to 10-0 with two in the third.  Freddy Forgione (Ronkonkoma, NY) hit a solo homer in the fifth before going deep again in the seventh to become the first player in program history with 20 home runs in a season.  Yeshiva avoided the shutout when Jacob Shakin belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.

Brandon Stanley (Trinity, FL) (8-1) struck out five of the six batters he faced in two innings of work.  Brett Buschman (Walkersville, MD) recorded two strikeouts in two innings, while Jack Kellner (Seaford, NY) got a called third strike against all three hitters in the fifth.  William Giuliani (Levittown, NY) gave up one hit and tallied one strikeout before Nick Capone (Deer Park, NY) finished up with one strikeout in the seventh.

Offensively, the Privateers collected 13 hits, with Alex Bardi (Wantagh, NY) finishing 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.  Forgione was 2-for-4 with two homers, three runs scored and two RBIs, while Madigan went 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs.  Matt Milone (Farmingville, NY), meanwhile, ended up 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI in his first game back from injury.

Adin Fischer's sixth-inning single broke up the no-hitter, and Shakin's home run was the only other Yeshiva hit.  Joshua Mintz went the distance on the mound for the Maccabees and was credited with a pair of strikeouts while walking four.

In Game 2, Maritime scored three in the first before Forgione belted his third long ball of the day in the top of the second.  He is now the Division III national leader with 21 home runs on the season.  (The Privateers, who have hit 79 total long balls this year, also moved into the national lead for team home runs.)  The solo shot was part of a five-run inning that gave Maritime an 8-0 advantage.

After Milone drove in a run on a third-inning ground out, Forgione roped a two-run single in the fourth.  The Privateers added four runs in the fifth, then put up a five-spot in the top of the sixth.  Nick Pinggera (Kings Park, NY), who crushed a pinch-hit homer in the fifth, delivered a two-run double in the sixth.  Chris Bartlett (Greenvale, NY), meanwhile, capped the rally with a two-run single to right.

Shakin got Yeshiva on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.  Chris Simone (Bayside, NY) retired the next three Maccabees, though, to finish off the 23-1 victory and Maritime's regular season.  Over their last eight games, the Privateers have posted 136 runs, an average of 17 per contest.

Matt Demme (Carmel, NY) (8-0) tossed two perfect innings in his final start before the Skyline Conference Tournament.  He recorded three strikeouts.  Jonathan Racanello (New Rochelle, NY) allowed one hit and notched five strikeouts in two innings, while Jimmy Tighe (Mineola, NY) struck out three and yielded one single in the fifth.  Simone also notched three strikeouts in his two innings of work.

As a team, the Privateers pounded out 21 hits, and 17 different players either scored or drove in a run.  Forgione was 3-for-6 with his 21^st home run and four RBIs, and Harry Leipold (Thornwood, NJ) finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored.  Despite coming off the bench, Pinggera ended up a triple short of the cycle.  He knocked in three runs and scored twice.  Madigan went 2-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Bardi had two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs.

Yeshiva finished with three hits in the contest, Shakin's homer, a single by Assaf Perl and Mintz's double.  Mintz (0-4), after throwing a complete game in the opener, also started Game 2 and pitched the first four innings.  Jesse Rosenblum followed with two innings on the mound before Daniel Ganopolsky tossed a scoreless seventh. He surrendered one hit and one walk while striking out one.

With the two victories, Maritime is guaranteed at least the No. 4 seed in the Skyline Tournament.  If the Privateers are seeded third or fourth, they'll host a single-elimination first-round game on Wednesday night.