Sports

Chaminade Baseball Tops St. Anthony's, 6-3

Flyers hand St. Anthony's loss in Game 1 of best-of-three Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA semifinal series.

senior righthander Eric Truss struck out eight in five innings and the Flyers baseball team collected timely hits to earn a 6-3 win over in Game 1 of the best-of-three Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA semifinal series Monday at Farmingdale State.

St. Anthony’s (13-7) must come back and win Game 2 on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to keep its season alive. Chaminade (15-4), which had five different players score runs, has yet to lose to the Friars in four tries this season.

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Heroes: St. Anthony’s leadoff hitter Matt Zsevic went 2-for-4 and reached base on a hit by pitch. He scored a first-inning run. It’s a good day by any measure.

Yet for all his success, Zsevic’s day must have been one of extreme frustration. His line drive in the fourth was snared by a diving Michael Ferranti in centerfield.

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And when Zsevic stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh, he represented the tying run. He hit a long drive to left. But instead of a two-run double, Chaminade’s Ryan Hopke caught it for the final out.

“I said, ‘Oh boy’ as soon as he hit it,” Chaminade coach Mike Pienkos said. “But that leftfielder is very good and covers a lot of ground.”

Turning Point: Friars catcher Mike D'Acunti drew an intentional walk with one on and two out in the fourth. Rich Patrizio walked one batter later. Then Ryan D’Alessandro singled up the middle, bringing home Nick Gargan to forge a tie at 3.

D’Acunti moved from second to third on the play, then made a mad dash for home. It could have been a key moment in a big inning for St. Anthony’s. 

But Chaminade catcher Andrew Pohalski was waiting with the ball along the third base line. D’Acunti plowed into the catcher and knocked him down. Pohalski held on to the ball. But D’Acunti was out either way. In fact, he was ejected from the game. Players are not allowed to run into the catcher. Benches cleared, but the inning was over.

Quotable: “Too many opportunities to put them away early,” St. Anthony’s interim coach John Phelan said. “We didn’t come up with the big hit. We let them hang around and they eventually finished us off.”

Bottom Line: It’s been one week since as head coach. Phelan was elevated from assistant to interim head coach. So this was just his second game in the new role. Give him and the Friars players credit for adjusting on the fly. But now they play for survival. Tuesday becomes a must-win game for the Friars.

Key Stat: St. Anthony’s stranded 13 runners on base, including eight in scoring position. 

Who’s Next: Game 2 of best-of-three Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA semifinal series. Chaminade vs. St. Anthony’s Tuesday, 6 p.m. at Farmingdale State.

Teams 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F St. Anthony's 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 Chaminade 0 0 3 2 0 1 x 6

WP: Truss. LP: Sperin. SV: Gallagher.


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