68.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Malverne tops surging Sewanhaka
After Sewanhaka stayed hot with a come-from-behind, extra-inning victory to open last week’s Nassau Countywide Conference 1 baseball series, Malverne responded to take the next two games to finish its first season under coach Anthony Barbieri above .500.
The Mules rallied to capture Thursday's finale at home, 11-5, as senior Peter Krapf pitched the final 4 1/3 innings to earn the win in relief on Senior Day. All nine Malverne batters scored at least one run and eight had at least one RBI, with junior Frankie Brienza knocking in a pair.
“This was a good series and this was the rubber game,” Barbieri said. “They came back to beat us here Monday but we won a close game on their field Tuesday. We recognized our seven seniors today and the guys are excited to close out with a win.”
Malverne, which had 12 hits to Sewanhaka’s six in the finale, went 8-7 in conference games and 9-9 overall. The Indians, who lost their first seven out of the gate, finished 6-9 in conference play and 6-10 overall.
“Our kids just kept working and we ended up having a pretty good year,” Sewanhaka coach Mike Senese said. “Getting the first win took the weight off their shoulders and boosted morale, which was never really too low. I always try to preach positivity. To the kids credit they stuck with it and we rattled off six straight wins.”
Junior Gabe Gil’s RBI single in the top of the eighth inning proved the game-winning hit for Sewanhaka, which got a complete-game gem from Tome. He allowed no earned runs and struck out nine. Estevez hit a game-tying RBI triple in the fifth.
The Mules took the middle game of the series the following afternoon, 5-4, as freshman hurler Markus Daly struck out eight. Senior Alex Daly drove home junior Aaron Munoz with the winning run.
The finale saw the Mules score three times in the bottom of the second with senior Jovanni Heredia and Brienza, who hit .350 from the leadoff spot and patrolled center field, getting RBIs.
Sewanhaka scored all five of its runs in the third courtesy of five walks and one hit by pitch, but was unable to protect the lead. The Mules cut the margin to 5-4 on junior shortstop Gennaro Izzo’s RBI single in the fourth and then exploded for seven runs on three hits in the fourth.
Malverne’s defense made the play of the game and perhaps the season in the top of the fifth after the Indians loaded the bases with one out. Krapf induced a pitcher-to-catcher Luke Major to Munoz at first base double play, ending the threat.
“We had some ups and downs but played some really good baseball these last two weeks,” Barbieri said. “We’re going to miss the seniors and the goal now is to get everyone else playing over the summer and heading into next season.”
