Oceanside advances to semifinals

Posted

Facing elimination for the second time in three days, Oceanside kept its baseball season and county championship hopes alive with a 6-1 victory over Farmingdale in the decisive third game of their Nassau Class AA quarterfinal playoff series on May 20.

The Sailors, who after sweeping the Dalers during the regular season dropped the series opener and scored just one run through 11 innings, advanced to face top-seeded Port Washington in the semifinals.

“We had a difficult draw,” Oceanside coach Mike Postilio said after pitchers Leo Alvarez and Noah Eisel combined to allow only five hits with 10 strikeouts in the clincher. “To have to beat Farmingdale five times in one year isn’t an easy thing,” he added. “Our guys showed a lot of grit and determination.”

Alvarez, a senior who turned the series around with one swing in the top of the fifth inning in Game 2 — a go-ahead grand slam — on May 18, scattered four hits and a walk over five innings and struck out six in Game 3. The Sailors scored twice in the bottom of the first and added two more runs in the third to give him some breathing room.

“Leo pitched one of his better games of the year,” Postilio said. “He’s been in a bunch of big games in multiple sports and he responded when we needed him the most.”

Seniors Jake Lazzaro and Eisel both had RBIs and scored twice, including in the first on hits by seniors Austin Vlahakis and Chris Siklas, respectively. Eisel, who dominated on the mound during the regular season with three wins and a 1.03 ERA, slammed the door on fifth-seeded Farmingdale’s season with four strikeouts and one hit allowed over the final two frames.

“Noah’s been lights-out all year,” Postilio said. “He started the series opener and I’m glad we were able to have him available for a couple of key innings. Leo gave us the five innings we were looking for.”

Senior Jake Reyer pitched into the sixth inning in Game 2 and left with a 5-3 lead thanks to Alvarez’s slam in the top of the fifth. With two outs and junior Jack Bier on third and Lazzaro on second, the Dalers intentionally walked Siklas to load the bases. Alvarez then hit a rope to the opposite field to break a 1-1 tie.

Farmingdale scored twice in the sixth before Vlahakis entered in relief and recorded the final two outs. Lazzaro pitched the seventh for the save.

Oceanside, the No. 4 seed, went 8-4 in Conference AA-II and carried back-to-back shutouts over Syosset into the playoffs. The Sailors had five pitchers combined for a no-hitter in the regular-season finale May 9, with Alvarez going 4 2/3.

Postilio said Reyer would get the ball in the best-of-three semifinal series opener against Port Washington, followed by Eisel in Game 2 and Alvarez in Game 3 if necessary.

“We’re happy to play a team we haven’t faced this year,” Postilio said. “It’s a new uniform to look at. It’s exciting.”