- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,171,928
- Reaction score
- 59
Section 9 Class AAA baseball champ Monroe-Woodbury caught some bad breaks on the basepaths and dropped a 5-3 decision to Suffolk County champion Massapequa in a state semifinal setback on Friday, June 12, in Endicott.
The Crusaders (19-4) had a pair of runners thrown out over the final four innings, and could not produce the tying runs in the seventh inning despite having a pair on board.
As Joey Bauer drew a walk in the fourth inning, Liam Hayes successfully stole third base and scored when catcher Anthony Dinello threw high to the bag. However, left fielder Caiden Erker retrieved the ball quickly and got the ball in to Dinello, who spotted Bauer trying to take second and gunned him down to put an end to the Monroe rally that shaved the deficit to 3-2.
Down 5-2 in the seventh, Ryan Lugo drew a leadoff walk and took third when second baseman Brady Love booted a grounder up the middle by Jeremy Lai. Evan Erickson lined a single off the glove of reliever James Alonso, scoring Lugo and leaving the tying runs on base. Liam Hayes lofted a fly to short right-center; center fielder Anthony Conza cut in front of Christopher Sultana and delivered a perfect throw to third base where Ryan Moore laid the game-ending double-play tag on pinch runner Evan Espinal.
It was a rough start for Monroe ace Braeden Burke, who came into the game with an 8-0 mark and 1.12 ERA. He gave up a leadoff single to Love. Conza laid down a bunt which Burke fielded but his throw was misplayed by first baseman Lai, leaving runners on the corners. A wild pitch by Burke scored Love, and Sultana laced a double off the wall in right. With two down, Joe Genova took his first pitch to the track in right for an RBI double and 3-0 Massapequa lead.
Over the next four innings, Burke faced only two batters over the minimum.
Lai led off the Monroe fourth with his first homer of the season, a ball that barely cleared the wall in left. Later in the inning is when Hayes scored on the errant throw but Bauer was cut down.
The Chiefs finally caught up to Burke again in the sixth. Sultana's sharp grounder bounded off second baseman Ryan Lugo but was credited with a single. Same too with the scoring as Caiden Erker's bunt was fielded by catcher Bauer, who slipped on his throw. Lefty Joe Genova laced an opposite-field RBI single and Ryan Moore delivered a sacrifice fly on an 0-2 offering.
The Crusaders squandered an opportunity with two runners in scoring position in the sixth when reliever James Alonso induced a groundout to short by Connor McHale.
Massapequa (24-3-1) will face Liverpool of Section 3 in Saturday's 4 p.m. title game at Binghamton University in Vestal.
[email protected]
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Monroe-Woodbury baseball falls in state AAA semifinal contest
Continue reading...
The Crusaders (19-4) had a pair of runners thrown out over the final four innings, and could not produce the tying runs in the seventh inning despite having a pair on board.
As Joey Bauer drew a walk in the fourth inning, Liam Hayes successfully stole third base and scored when catcher Anthony Dinello threw high to the bag. However, left fielder Caiden Erker retrieved the ball quickly and got the ball in to Dinello, who spotted Bauer trying to take second and gunned him down to put an end to the Monroe rally that shaved the deficit to 3-2.
Down 5-2 in the seventh, Ryan Lugo drew a leadoff walk and took third when second baseman Brady Love booted a grounder up the middle by Jeremy Lai. Evan Erickson lined a single off the glove of reliever James Alonso, scoring Lugo and leaving the tying runs on base. Liam Hayes lofted a fly to short right-center; center fielder Anthony Conza cut in front of Christopher Sultana and delivered a perfect throw to third base where Ryan Moore laid the game-ending double-play tag on pinch runner Evan Espinal.
It was a rough start for Monroe ace Braeden Burke, who came into the game with an 8-0 mark and 1.12 ERA. He gave up a leadoff single to Love. Conza laid down a bunt which Burke fielded but his throw was misplayed by first baseman Lai, leaving runners on the corners. A wild pitch by Burke scored Love, and Sultana laced a double off the wall in right. With two down, Joe Genova took his first pitch to the track in right for an RBI double and 3-0 Massapequa lead.
Over the next four innings, Burke faced only two batters over the minimum.
Lai led off the Monroe fourth with his first homer of the season, a ball that barely cleared the wall in left. Later in the inning is when Hayes scored on the errant throw but Bauer was cut down.
The Chiefs finally caught up to Burke again in the sixth. Sultana's sharp grounder bounded off second baseman Ryan Lugo but was credited with a single. Same too with the scoring as Caiden Erker's bunt was fielded by catcher Bauer, who slipped on his throw. Lefty Joe Genova laced an opposite-field RBI single and Ryan Moore delivered a sacrifice fly on an 0-2 offering.
The Crusaders squandered an opportunity with two runners in scoring position in the sixth when reliever James Alonso induced a groundout to short by Connor McHale.
Massapequa (24-3-1) will face Liverpool of Section 3 in Saturday's 4 p.m. title game at Binghamton University in Vestal.
[email protected]
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Monroe-Woodbury baseball falls in state AAA semifinal contest
Continue reading...
