THROGGS NECK, NY – With a doubleheader sweep of Purchase on Saturday at Reinhart Baseball Field, the Maritime College baseball team made program history. After taking the opener by a 14-7 count, the Privateers (21-14, 16-4 Skyline) earned a 10-0 victory over the Panthers (17-20, 10-10 Skyline) in Game 2 to claim a share of the regular season Skyline Conference title for the first time. The 16 conference wins are also a school record.
After Maritime honored its seniors during a pregame ceremony, one of those seniors—
Alex Bardi (Wantagh, NY) began a special day at the plate with a two-run homer to right center in the first inning of Game 1. Bardi came up again with one on in the second and belted a long ball to right. He then led off the bottom of the third and crushed his third homer (off his third different pitcher) in as many at-bats. Bardi became the sixth player in program history with a three-home-run game.
As a team, the Privateers had six long balls in the contest.
Dylan Payano (Flushing, NY) and
Owen Weber (Kings Park, NY) each went yard in the fifth, while
Guytano Kiesel (Bayport, NY) ripped a solo shot to left in the sixth. Purchase added three home runs of its own, as the last eight runs of the game (and 13 of the 21 total) came via the homer.
The Privateers used an eight-run second to jump out to a 10-0 lead before Purchase put up a five-spot in the top of the third. However, Maritime immediately responded with Bardi's homer in the bottom half of the inning. The Payano and Weber blasts then made it 13-5, as the Privateers notched a 14-7 victory.
Bardi had five RBIs on his three home runs. Payano, meanwhile, ended up a triple short of the cycle. He was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBIs. Weber also scored twice, while
Chris Picarella (Levittown, NY) added a pair of singles and two stolen bases.
Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY) stole his 34
th base of the season in the second inning, setting a new single-season program record.
Joe Sorge (Montgomery, NY) (5-1) made his final home start in a Privateers uniform and went six innings. He gave up six runs on seven hits, struck out eight and walked one.
Luke Martinez (Mineola, NY) pitched the seventh and allowed one run on three hits with a strikeout and a walk.
For Purchase, Zachary Redlund entered as an injury replacement and doubled in both of his at-bats. Patrick Reyes, meanwhile, smacked a three-run homer in the third inning. Christian Miesegaes (3-4) started on the mound for the Panthers and was knocked out in the second inning. He was charged with six runs on five hits while recording a strikeout and issuing one walk.
In Game 2,
Ryan Morash (Merrick, NY) started for Maritime and was brilliant. He gave up back-to-back singles leading off the game, but got out of the jam with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts. Purchase would only have two other baserunners the rest of the way—both on singles—and one of those runners was immediately wiped out on a double play. Morash (3-1) would end up facing just three batters over the minimum in an eight-inning shutout, his third of the season. He equaled his career-high with 10 strikeouts and didn't walk a hitter.
Morash got all the offense he needed on
Joey Goodman's (Merrick, NY) solo homer in the second. Payano added an RBI single in the third before
Harry Leipold (Thornwood, NY) made it 4-0 with a two-run single in the fourth. In the bottom of the seventh, Bardi launched one over the right field wall for his fourth home run of the twinbill. Goodman later doubled home a pair before scoring on Kiesel's RBI single. The Privateers then brought the game to an early conclusion when
Daniel Noebel (Rockville Centre, NY) and
Blake Gnepper (Ottawa Hills, OH) drew bases loaded walks in the eighth.
Overall, Maritime collected 12 hits in the contest, and eight different Privateers scored a run. Goodman was 2-for-5 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and five RBIs. Leipold finished with two hits and two RBIs, while Picarella crossed the plate twice. Payano and Bardi each added a pair of hits.
Brian Saldana (3-3), who homered in Game 1, started Game 2 on the mound for Purchase and took the loss. He allowed four runs on eight hits, struck out five and walked one over five innings of work.
Maritime finished in a three-way tie for first place with Farmingdale and St. Joseph's LI. The Privateers will be the No. 2 seed in the Skyline Tournament, which gives them a bye into the double-elimination portion of the event next weekend. Maritime's next game will be on Friday against either St. Joseph's LI, Manhattanville or Merchant Marine at the Farmingdale State Baseball Stadium.
