Pitching pushes Clarke into finals

Facing elimination in the quarterfinal round of the Nassau Class A baseball playoffs on May 18, Clarke stormed back with a pair of wins over Valley Stream North by a combined score of 21-3 then swept the best-of-three semifinal matchup with No. 15 Island Trees.

The four straight playoff victories catapulted the Rams (20-5 overall) into the county championship series for the first time since 2009 against No. 13 Plainedge, the defending champs. The Rams, making their seventh trip to the finals in the last 12 seasons — they have won four of the previous six matchups — continue to see wins piled up with a variety of players stepping up when it counts the most.

Senior relief pitcher Sean Dunn slammed the door on a Bulldogs rally in the semifinal clincher, a 6-5 win on May 21, earning the save by showing some nerves of steel. After giving up three straight hits to start the seventh, including a home run, he bounced back by inducing a pair of popups and a strikeout. “He gave up a home run to one of the best in the County,” coach Tom Abruscato said. “Those things are going to happen. Sometimes it’s body language [when sticking with a pitcher]. He threw 11 straight curveballs [to end the game] and 10 went for strikes. He had a good matchup and didn’t appear [rattled].”

Junior Matt Seelinger, pitching on three days rest, gutted out six innings on the mound before giving way to Dunn, and senior Jessie Russo helped put the Rams in a position for the semifinal sweep by cracking a two-run triple in the fifth.

Senior Joe Fusco turned in a gem, and his best performance of the season according to Abruscato, by limiting Island Trees to just two hits and a walk in a complete game 4-0 win on May 20. “He did a great job and just threw strikes,” Abruscato said. “He pitched to contact and attacked the strike zone. He stuck with a mechanical adjustment and I think that was really the key.”

Junior Mike Gismondi drove in a pair of runs with a triple and senior Jayson Garcia plated two more with a two-out single in the fourth. “He’s had a great playoff [run] and hit a lot of balls hard,” Abruscato said of Garcia.

After dropping the first game of the quarterfinals, 8-7, to No. 14 Valley Stream North, Clarke strung together hits that were both big and small over the next two games, a 9-2 win in the clincher on May 18, and a 12-1 win in Game 2 one day earlier. Senior John Fogarty had a pair of homers and six runs batted in to back Seelinger in the second game, while senior Chris Caizza continued a recent run of strong outings with a complete-game three-hitter to knock out the Spartans. “He was brought along slowly [this season] but has been lights out in his last three starts,” Abruscato said.