#1 Farmingdale State - 6, #6 St. Joseph's-Brooklyn - 4
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The top-seeded Farmingdale State baseball team defeated #6 St. Joseph's-Brooklyn, 6-4, today in the Skyline Conference Baseball Championship. The Rams advance to the Finals on Tuesday, while the Bears were eliminated from the tournament.
The Rams (20-15) led off the bottom of the second with an infield single by freshman shortstop Brandon Snow (Owings, MD) and he advanced to second on a Christopher Reilly (Levittown, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt. After moving to third on a passed ball, Snow came around to score on a squeeze bunt successfully executed by Domenic Palumbo (Plainview, N.Y.).
Freshman third baseman Anthony Gigante (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) started the bottom of the third with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Kenneth Johntry (Yaphank, N.Y.). Freshman center fielder Nick Attardi (Smithtown, N.Y.) followed with a bunt single to third and the Rams then converted a double steal as Gigante scored to put FSC ahead, 2-0. In FSC's next at-bat, sophomore right fielder Brandon Ernest (Owings, MD) hit an RBI double down the right field line to increase the lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Reilly led off with a double to left field and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Palumbo. In the next at-bat, Palumbo pulled off FSC's second squeeze of the game scoring Reilly and putting the Rams on top, 4-0. Later in the inning, the Rams took a 5-0 lead on a Johntry RBI single up the middle.
St. Joe's-Brooklyn (22-20) scored their first run of the game in the top of the fifth on a one-out RBI double to left field by junior center fielder Michael Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y.). Junior left fielder Connor Pasetti (Oceanside, N.Y.) followed with an RBI groundout to cut the deficit to 5-2. A Francis Rapp (Baldwin, N.Y.) RBI single that hit first base pulled the Bears within two, 5-3.
With runners on second and third with one out in the top of the sixth, the Bears cut the deficit to 5-4 as John Condon (Oceanside, N.Y.) came around to score on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Rams regained a two-run lead, 6-4, with an RBI groundout from sophomore left fielder Ryan Osborne (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.).
FSC sophomore pitcher David Otero Jr. (Shelton, Conn.) entered the game with one out in the ninth and recorded the final two outs to seal the 6-4 victory.
Gigante finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and had three stolen bases, while Snow and Attardi were each 2-for-4 and scored a run.
The Bears were led by freshman third baseman Adam Schwartz (Staten Island, N.Y.) who went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and a run scored.
#1 Farmingdale State will now face #4 St. Joseph's-LI in the Skyline Championship on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. If necessary, the second game will take place 30 minutes after the completion of game one. The Golden Eagles enter Tuesday without a loss in the double elimination tournament.
Weather permitting there will be live video of the Championship game(s).
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