East Meadow rolls into playoffs

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With a convincing three-game sweep of Long Beach to close the regular season, East Meadow (12-6-1) is positioning to repeat as Nassau County AA baseball champions.

The Jets downed the Marines 11-5, 10-5 and 11-4, and sophomore pitcher Charles Cucchiara struck out eight batters and relinquished three hits and two walks over six innings in the season finale. 

“I really feel he had his best command and he threw a ton of first-pitch strikes,” coach John Marciante said of Cucchiara’s dominant performance.

The third starter on a pitching staff without any returnees from last year’s title team, Cucchiara (4-0) had 38 strikeouts, five walks and a 1.15 WHIP over 34 innings this season.

Lefthander Patrick Hoffman (4-2) threw complete games against Baldwin and Valley Stream, while fellow junior Billy McQuillan served as another solid, workhorse starter. Senior Joe Franzese debuted on the mound in relief, earning a 0.457 ERA and 20 strikeouts while giving up one earned run over 15 ⅓ innings.

Franzese shined in a come-from-behind, extra-innings win at Baldwin on April 8. The Jets were up 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Bruins had no outs and runners on second and third when he struck out two batters and forced a grounder to seal the victory.

“That was really the turning point of the season for me,” Marciante said. “That game got us to .500 and allowed us to get on a roll.”

After graduating several seniors, Marciante expected his junior-and-sophomore-heavy team would endure an early adjustment period before taking off. Plainview swept East Meadow in three games to open the season before the Jets picked up their play and went on a six-game winning streak.

“We never used the ‘rebuilding’ word,” Marciante said. “I give the seniors credit for being stable as we figured out the young guys.”

As they turn to the playoffs, the Jets will look to Hoffman to also help power their offense. He earned a .365 batting average and led the team in RBIs (22) and doubles (8) hitting from the three spot. Leadoff batter and second baseman senior Justin Reyes hit for .379, had 11 walks and scored 23 runs en route to a .500 on-base percentage.

“Just to have a kid at the top of the order who is on base half the time is a big advantage,” Marciante said.

In addition to racking up 17 RBIs, Sal D’Onofrio is also a defensive force at shortstop along with fellow senior Kyle Leibel in centerfield.

“They really gave us that stability up the middle,” Marciante said of the duo. “They made all of the plays that they needed to make and they can make a spectacular play.”

Junior and first-year starting catcher John Grigonis has played solidly behind the plate, showing an ability to block breaking balls in the dirt.

Meanwhile, Marciante sees no reason why his young team can’t return to the championship series. “If we limit the mistakes and continue to improve,” he said, “the sky’s the limit.”