The opponent was the same. And so, too, was the result.
For a second straight year, the Massapequa baseball team defeated Connetquot in the Long Island Class AAA championship game, winning 11-6 at the Middle Country Athletic Complex in Selden last Saturday.
The formula, though, was a bit different this year.
“We always relied on two really stud pitchers,” Massapequa coach Tom Sheedy said. “This year, we’re relying on eight to 10 bullpen guys. It’s a little bit different, but it’s definitely working.”
Senior Ryan Moore got the party started with a two-run double in the top of the first inning, followed by an RBI-single by senior AJ Conza as the Chiefs sent eight batters to the plate to take a 3-0 lead.
Connetquot (21-4) responded to tie the score 3-3 in the bottom of the first, and that’s when Jack Corrigan’s number was called. Last year’s closer and a former starter, Corrigan was brilliant in four-and-one-third scoreless innings of relief.
“I was able to get ahead in a lot of counts,” Corrigan said. “I was locating fastballs, curveball was spinning well, just everything was working for me.”
Junior Chris Sultana put Massapequa (23-3-1) back in front with a two-run single off the wall in right-center field in the top of the second and followed with a run-scoring single to right to extend Massapequa’s lead to 6-3 in the top of the fourth inning.
An RBI fielder’s choice by Moore, an RBI single by junior Joe Genova and a run-scoring single to left by senior John Neary in a four-run fourth inning extended the Chiefs’ lead to 9-3.
Conza drove in two more with a single to left in the top of the fifth inning to give Massapequa an 11-3 lead.
“Everybody was hitting, everybody was swinging the bat,” Corrigan said. “We had nine runs scored with two outs. Everybody was swinging it well and swinging it well when it mattered.”
Connetquot cut its deficit to 11-6, loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh. But Adelphi-bound closer James Alonso induced a ground out to end the game and seal another Long Island championship for the Chiefs.
Massapequa, which won the 10th Long Island championship in school history, advances to take on Monroe-Woodbury in the New York State Class AAA semifinals in Binghamton Friday.
“There were a lot of sad faces last year because the expectation was that we were going to win a state championship, and we just didn’t get over the hump,” Sheedy said. “Fourteen of our 15 seniors were all on the team last year. I have six guys playing for their third season. That’s a tremendous amount of experience. They’ve been down this road before.”
