Mepham continues to rake

Mother Nature may not be providing much warmth this spring, but Mepham’s generating plenty of heat on the baseball diamond, running out to a blazing 9-0 start in Conference AA-III games after completing a three-game sweep over Long Beach with a 12-2 win on April 24.

In taking all three games, the Pirates (10-1 overall) outscored the Marines, 33-8. “We knew we had a talented group, it was just a [matter] of getting everyone in the right place in the order,” Mepham coach Bill Murphy said. “We have 24 players on the team and right now we have eight seniors in the lineup at any one time, and we’re just as comfortable putting the juniors out there.”

Senior designated hitter Kevin Sinetar came up with the big hit in the series-finale against the Marines, breaking a 1-1 tie with a two-run single to left in the third inning, and from there the offense continued to produce. Senior Daniel Paradise notched the win on the mound, allowing just one earned run and striking out three.

Mepham doesn’t have one particular area of the team driving its success, but several that are producing. Senior cleanup hitter Ben Hoffman, who’s among Nassau County’s leaders in home runs (four) and runs batted in (22) while hitting at a .600 clip, delivered the big hit in the second game against Long Beach. His run-scoring single in the sixth broke a scoreless tie in a game the Pirates won, 6-1, on April 22. Following Hoffman’s hit, junior Seamus Kirby smacked a two-run double. 

Hoffman clubbed a pair of homers and drove in seven in the series opener, leading Mepham to a 15-5 victory, while senior Dom Bove, the No. 2 hitter in the order, had three hits and five RBIs. After nine games in league play, Bove was nipping at Hoffman’s heels in the batting average department, hitting a crisp .593 with 16 hits in his first 27 at bats. Senior catcher Dylan Stock, sandwiched between the two at No. 3, boasts a .451 average in conference play. 

“They’re the three team captains,” Murphy said of his two, three and four hitters. “They’re hitting the ball hard and hitting gaps. If a pitcher gets an out, he still has to face the other two. All year [the entire lineup] has had a knack for finding holes in the defense.”

The bottom of the lineup has also contributed with junior centerfielder Johnny Breden getting on base and giving the top of the order another runner to drive in. “We’re fortunate enough that we have from top to bottom, someone that can hit the ball hard in the lineup,” Murphy said.

While the bats have been explosive, the Pirates’ pitching staff has been led by senior Reed Gonsowski, Danny Kapps and Paradise and a bullpen that’s always ready when needed. “We feel confident getting any one of our pitchers in during tight spots,” Murphy said. “We’re lucky enough that we have so many arms that we do.”