#1 Farmingdale State - 5, #2 Old Westbury - 4 (F/10)
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Tied 4-4 in the top of the 10th, Farmingdale State sophomore second baseman Domenic Palumbo (Plainview, N.Y.) hit the game-winning RBI single to center field to lead the Rams to a 5-4 victory over #2 Old Westbury. The Rams advance in the Skyline Baseball Championship, while the Panthers were eliminated with their second loss.
In the bottom of the first, Old Westbury (26-15) junior shortstop Tommy Ziegen (Glen Cove, N.Y.) hit a solo home run to left field to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
The Rams (19-15) answered in the second inning with a Brandon Snow (Owings, MD) RBI single to right center that scored Palumbo and evened the score at 1-1.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, OW senior second baseman Joey Walsh (Bethpage, N.Y.) hit a a double down the left field line and Ziegen followed with an RBI triple to left center to put the Panthers ahead, 2-1. In their next at-bat, sophomore first baseman Dean Sheridan (Huntington, N.Y.) hit an RBI single to right to extend the advantage to 3-1.
In the top of the sixth, sophomore first baseman Christopher Reilly (Levittown, N.Y.) led off with an infield single for Farmingdale State. After a Joshua Shapiro (Melville, N.Y.) single to shortstop, freshman third baseman Anthony Gigante (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) singled through the right side to load the bases with one out. After a fly out, senior catcher Kenneth Johntry (Yaphank, N.Y.) hit a 2 RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 3-3. In FSC's next at-bat, freshman center fielder Nick Attardi (Smithtown, N.Y.) put the Rams ahead by one with an RBI single up the middle.
Old Westbury tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh as Walsh scored an unearned run for the Panthers.
FSC sophomore left fielder Ryan Osborne (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) singled to lead off the 10th and advanced to second on a Reilly sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Palumbo hit the go ahead RBI single to center which scored Luiggy Marte (Queens, N.Y.).
Freshman pitcher Matthew Constantine (West Babylon, N.Y.) did not allow a hit in the bottom of the 10th as the Rams earned the 5-4 victory. Constantine (2-3) pitched the final two innings, allowing only one hit to record the win.
Attardi finished 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI, while Osborne had three hits, including a triple in five at-bats. Snow was 2-for-5 with a run batted in and Johntry added one hit and 2 RBI.
Old Westbury was led by Walsh who was 3-for-5 and scored two runs.
Tomorrow will feature two games at Farmingdale State. Fourth-seeded St. Joseph's-LI will square off against sixth-seeded St. Joseph's-Brooklyn at 10:00 a.m. and the Rams will face the loser at 1:00 p.m.
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