#3 Farmingdale State - 10, #1 Old Westbury - 9
Old Westbury, N.Y. - Farmingdale State overcame an early deficit en route to a 10-9 victory over top-seeded Old Westbury (19-21) this morning in the Skyline Conference Baseball Tournament. The Rams (24-10) advance to the Championship game without a loss in the double-elimination playoffs.
Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth, junior third baseman Mike Scarlato (Holbrook, N.Y.) led off with a single and later scored an unearned run to cut the Panthers lead to two. The Rams closed within one on an Anthony Alvino (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) RBI single through the right side, scoring freshman catcher Kenneth Johntry (Yaphank, N.Y.). In Farmingdale State's next at-bat, a sacrifice bunt by junior Michael Marino (Franklin Square, N.Y.) scored Edward Bergmann (East Meadow, N.Y.) to even the score at 5-5. Junior shortstop Tom Rydzewski (Franklin Square, N.Y.) and senior designated hitter Daniel Paccione (Commack, N.Y.) each added RBI singles to put the Rams on top 7-5.
Alvino led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and scored on a Marino triple to right center. Two batters later, freshman left fielder Richard Sullivan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) singled to right scoring Marino and putting Farmingdale State ahead 9-5. Paccione followed with a sac fly to center to extend the advantage to 10-5.
Old Westbury added four runs in the seventh, but were held without a hit over the final two innings as the Rams earned the 10-9 playoff victory.
Sullivan was 3-for-3 with a run scored and 2 RBI, while Paccione had two hits and two runs batted in. Bergmann was 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored and Alvino had one hit, an RBI and a game-high three runs scored. Senior pitcher Timmy Trimarchi (Hauppauge, N.Y.) improved to 2-0 on the season after allowing one earned run in three innings of relief. Junior Alex Pangourelias (Briarwood, N.Y.) recorded the save after allowing no hits in 1.1 innings of work.
The Panthers were led by junior centerfield Jonathan Pagan (Westbury, N.Y.), who was 4-for-6 with a run and 2 RBI, while junior right fielder Jacob Coners (Selden, N.Y.) had four hits.
The Rams await their opponent for tomorrow's 11:00 a.m. Championship game. The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Baseball Regionals.
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