MacArthur in driver's seat

Generals take two of three from Carey

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Joe Ricciardi had two hits and Nick Tucci scored twice to highlight a nine-run top of the third inning outburst by MacArthur last Friday as the Generals seized control of the Nassau Conference A-I baseball driver’s seat with an 11-0 victory at Carey.

Joe Apollo had a two-run single and Peter Zielinski added an RBI double to back the pitching of southpaw Brandon Buchan, who allowed four hits and struck out 14 as MacArthur took the rubber game of an otherwise tight series to improve to 8-3-1. Sophomore Garrett Scavelli had a pair of hits for a second straight game for the Seahawks, who slipped to 5-4.

“We were very good today, but the score is more of an aberration because Carey has a real solid team,” MacArthur coach Steve Costello said. “We’ve been bottled up offensively so it was nice to break out. Nothing’s easy in this conference. It’s probably the best conference we’ve been in since we got away from ability based.”

Carey had Buchan on the ropes in the bottom of the first with runners on second and third with one out, and the bases juiced with two outs, but was unable to make contact in two key at-bats. “There are so many outstanding pitchers in this conference, you’ve got to make the most of your opportunities with runners on base,” Seahawks coach Mike Farina said. “We had some clutch hits when we beat them a few days ago, but we didn’t have it today.”

Seahawks starter Michael Ruffini retired six of the first seven Generals he faced, but things quickly unraveled in the third as the visitors sent 14 to the plate and forced a pair of pitching changes. Justin DeMaria, Liam Shannon and Joe Keller, who opened the series April 17 by tossing a no-hitter in a 1-0 home victory, also had RBIs in the game-changing inning.

“The kids are playing well and winning the conference is a goal, but we’ve learned over the years when the playoff seeding comes everybody starts from scratch,” Costello said. “We just want to keep getting better.”

Carey responded to Keller’s gem with a come-from-behind 4-3 win in the middle game of the series the following afternoon. Connor Huckemeyer pitched lights-out in relief to earn the victory, striking out five in 2 2/3 innings of scoreless work. The Seahawks trailed by two in the bottom of the fifth when Kevin Bell and Chris Oliver set the table with one-out singles. After Devin Hartz drew a walk to load the bases, Chris Tile singled in Bell to cut the deficit in half. Scavelli then drove in the tying and eventual winning runs with a single.

Keller, a lefty, and Carey’s No. 1, Dom Rutigliano, dominated the series opener with a combined 25 strikeouts. The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth and was unearned. Keller fanned 12; Rutigliano 13 in six innings. “It was quite a duel,” Costello said. “Joe was working off his fastball and mixing in his cutter and curve. More than anything else, he was hitting spots.”