Game 1: #4 Merchant Marine - 4, #2 Farmingdale State - 3 (F/10)
Game 2: #1 St. Joseph's-Long Island - 8, #2 Farmingdale State - 4
Patchogue, N.Y. - The second seeded Farmingdale State baseball team met #4 Merchant Marine in the winner's bracket of the Skyline Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon and fell in extra-innings, 4-3. The Rams followed with an elimination game against top-seeded St. Joseph's-Long Island and lost, 8-4. FSC ends their 2022 season with a record of 22-15. USMMA and SJC-LI will play for the Skyline Conference Championship on Sunday.
Farmingdale State got on the board early in their first game as sophomore catcher Aidan Hutchins (Wading River, N.Y.) knocked an RBI single to score sophomore second baseman Richard Apollo Jr. (Seaford, N.Y.).
The Mariners (26-17) took the lead in the third inning. With runners on second and third, junior left fielder Joey Zanetti (Richmond, Va.) recorded a sacrifice fly before freshman second baseman Jack Millen (Shelby, N.C.) notched an RBI single to go ahead, 2-1.
The Rams trailed 3-2 heading into the ninth inning and tied the score with two outs. After junior third baseman Nolan White (Miller Place, N.Y.) singled and moved to second on a ground out, senior center fielder Vincent Napolitano (Bellmore, N.Y.) hit an RBI single to tie the game.
Senior Joe Marino (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) set down USMMA in order in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra-innings.
The Rams put a runner on but were unable to score in the top of the 10th.
In the bottom of the inning, Merchant Marine senior center fielder Brayden O'Connell (Beaver Dams, N.Y.) led off with a walk and quickly stole second base. Following an intentional walk and a popped up bunt, senior third baseman Noah Herdman (Naperville, Ill.) hit an RBI single to score O'Connell and clinch the 4-3 victory.
Napolitano recorded three hits for the Rams, while Apollo Jr. was 2-for-3 with a double, walk and run scored. White finished with two hits, including a double, and scored twice.
Sophomore Tyler Reistetter (Dickinson, Texas) (W, 5-3) tossed all 10 innings for the Mariners and struck out 11 batters to pick up the complete-game win.
In the elimination game, St. Joseph's-Long Island (21-12) jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first. They led 3-0 before scoring three more times in the sixth to open up a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, junior second baseman Daniel Molina (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.) hit a two-run single to score Jordan Lambert (Plainview, N.Y.) and Bobby Pollock (Manorville, N.Y.) to cut their deficit to four. Freshman left fielder Justin DiMartino (Bethpage, N.Y.) batted next and hit an RBI double to score Molina and make it a 6-3 game.
SJC-LI increased their lead with two runs in the top of the eighth before FSC got one back in the bottom of the inning on an error.
The Rams were set down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth as the Golden Eagles won, 8-4.
DiMartino finished 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and two stolen bases, while Molina recorded two hits, two RBI's, one run scored and a stolen base. Lambert, Apollo Jr. and Pollock each had one hit and one run scored.
Six different batters had 2+ hits for St. Joseph's-Long Island in the win.
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