Oceanside takes conference lead

In each of the past two seasons, Oceanside took the county by storm at playoff time and advanced to the Nassau Class AA baseball finals. While they fell short of taking home the crown, the Sailors more than opened a few eyes. Nobody will be surprised if Oceanside is once again in the mix for a county title when the playoffs come around. 

Despite losing a ton of starters to graduation in 2015, the Sailors are off to an 8-2 start, 5-1 in Nassau Conference AA-I. After a three-game sweep of Uniondale, Oceanside has won seven of its last eight games and sits atop the league standings. 

In the series opener against Uniondale, senior Mike Pagona improved to 3-0, striking out eight batters and allowing no earned runs over six strong innings to lead the Sailors to a 9-1 victory. Kyle Martin led the offensive attack by going 3-for-4 with a home run and a pair of RBI. Oceanside outscored the Knights 30-2 over the three games.

Head coach Mike Postilio believes the team’s success is a tribute to the entire Oceanside baseball community. “We’re relatively young, and had to replace a lot of guys from last season, but we’re playing real well,” Postilio said. “When the players get to the varsity level they’re pretty much ready to compete here at Oceanside, despite their age. We have four sophomores on the roster. They’re brought along really well at the younger levels of the program, and our veteran players have been great leaders.”

The Sailors passed an early season test by taking two of three games against perennial power Massapequa. After splitting the first two games of the series, the teams matched up in the rubber match under the lights at Massapequa’s Burns Park. The Sailors prevailed 1-0. The evening marked the sixth year in which the programs arranged to tie the game into a great cause. Proceeds went to the fight against leukemia.

After emotional pregame ceremonies, the teams played an epic contest that was scoreless after seven innings. In the top of the eighth, senior Nick Vlahakis singled in the hole between short and third to score Justin Halper to give the Sailors the game’s only run. Halper, who was running for Chris Macca, had stolen second base and advanced to third on a ground out.

Martin went the distance to earn the win. The Fordham-bound senior allowed just three hits and struck out 15 batters. Senior Paul Sirakowski matched Martin for seven shutout innings before the Chiefs went to their bullpen.

In the opening game of the series, the Sailors got two hits apiece from Macca, Vlahakis, and Nick DiLorenzo, and a well-pitched game from Pagona in a 9-4 victory. DiLorenzo continued to contribute when he hit a two-run homer in an 11-1 win over Uniondale. Sophomore Brendan McFall struck out 12 batters and didn’t allow a walk over six innings. 

Oceanside welcomes in Freeport next Tuesday, May 3, at 4:30 p.m.