FARMINGDALE, NY – After dropping its Skyline Conference Tournament opener to St. Joseph's LI on Thursday night, the Maritime College baseball team faced a must-win situation against Merchant Marine on Friday in the elimination round. Unfortunately, the second-seeded Privateers (21-16) saw their season come to an end with a 16-0 loss to the fifth-seeded Mariners (23-15) at the Farmingdale State Baseball Stadium.
Merchant Marine took advantage of two Maritime errors in the bottom of the first to plate four unearned tallies. The Mariners added another run on Luke Kruer's RBI double in the second, then Ryan Melton homered in the third to make it 6-0. Merchant Marine notched three more in the fifth before Kruer and Melton each went deep during a five-run sixth. Drew Davis ripped a two-run single in the seventh to cap the scoring in the Mariners' 16-0 victory.
That was more than enough offense for Merchant Marine starting pitcher Luke Sems. He allowed just four hits in the contest while striking out six and walking three. Sems (3-1) threw a 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the shutout and eliminate the Privateers from the tournament.
Two of those hits were by
Randy Ventura (Syosset, NY), a leadoff single in the first and an eighth-inning triple.
David Granucci (Medford, NY) had a double, and
Dylan Payano (Flushing, NY) singled for the only other Maritime hit.
Ryan Morash (Merrick, NY) (3-2) started on the mound for the Privateers and lasted three innings. He surrendered six runs (two earned) on five hits with one walk and one strikeout.
The Mariners pounded out 19 hits as a team, and 10 different Merchant Marine players scored at least one run. Melton was 3-for-4 with two homers, a triple, two runs scored and four RBIs. Kruer went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, two runs scored and four RBIs. Drew Davis contributed three hits and three RBIs, while Landon Troutt crossed the plate three times.
This season, Maritime set a program record with 16 conference wins. The Privateers also earned a share of their first regular season Skyline title, finishing in a three-way tie with Farmingdale and St. Joseph's LI.
