By Steven Zaitz
In the first inning against Bay Shore, the Northport Tigers baseball team looked more like Bears — The Bad News Bears, that is.
With their ace pitcher Liam Fodor on the hill, the Tigers kicked the ball around the infield to start the game, making three errors and giving up four unearned runs in the first inning to the undefeated Marauders.
Not a good start — at all.
Tack on a very earned run in the form of a 340-foot solo homer to left by left fielder and cleanup hitter Darnell Guerrero in the third inning and Bay Shore had itself an early five-run lead.
Making Northport’s situation extra bleak was the sight of Marauder pitcher Christopher Rouleau, who stands 6 feet 5 inches tall and was cruising through a Tiger lineup that mustered only two baserunners and a lonely run in the first four innings. Rouleau was dominant during that stretch, racking up six strikeouts and pitching to very soft contact.
“The first part of that game was rough and giving up four runs in the first inning was deflating,” said Northport Associate Head Coach Sean Lynch. “But our guys don’t quit.”
Entering the seventh inning down by three, Northport sprang to life. Rouleau walked the leadoff batter Fodor. Left fielder Tom Tini also drew a walk and Bay Shore replaced the tiring Rouleau with lefty reliever Hayden Preston. He promptly hit right fielder Rocco Stola with a pitch, putting the potential tying runs on base.
Designated hitter Mike Catrone hit a comebacker that drove in a run and centerfielder Dan Thomson grounded out to third to drive in another. But now the Tigers were down to their last out.
Senior third baseman William Deriso stepped into the batter’s box with Northport down by a run with an eager Stola itching to score from third. With two strikes, Deriso, who had been 0-3 with two strikeouts against Rouleau, hit a towering fly ball to left field. Guererro turned his back to home plate and gave chase. He would run out of room.
The ball clanked off the billboard-sized, metallic scoreboard that is situated behind the left field fence for a two run home run. The blast put the Tigers ahead 6-5 and their bench exploded with joy.
“As soon as Will hit that ball, I knew it was gone,” Lynch said. “The wind was blowing out and he put a great swing on it. He is a huge part of our offense and he showed why today.”
There was still a matter of the bottom of the seventh. Clinging to this newly found one run lead, Fodor, who had been brilliant in his two previous starts, retired the first two batters. In a game that started on shaky ground for the senior right-hander, he was one out away from a complete game victory.
“Liam is a true leader,” Lynch said. “He threw a one hit shutout against Smithtown East, but I think he was even better in this game because of the way he dealt with the adversity. He kept us in the game”
But before Fodor could close the books on this one, he needed one more out. Right fielder Coltrane Calloway refused to cooperate, lining a single to center. Guerrero followed with a single of his own and suddenly the tying run was in scoring position for the Marauders. Guerrero was 3-4 with a homer and three runs batted in on the day.
After a long discussion between the umpiring crew and both coaches about the starter’s pitch count, it was determined that Fodor had to come out of the game. So, in came Jason Schwartz to try and finish it.
Schwartz induced a weak grounder to third. Deriso, a hero just moments before, threw the ball past first baseman Joe Gonzales and Calloway scored the tying run. Schwartz got the next batter, but this hard-fought game was now going to extra innings.
With two outs and nobody on for Northport, Schwartz walked and Tini dumped a single into left. Leadoff hitter Stola stepped in against the lefty. After fouling off a hittable pitch on 3-1, Stola, the multi-sport superstar, knocked himself in the helmet with his bat in frustration.
“I should have put a better swing on the 3-1 pitch,” Stola said. “He threw it up and in and I was a little early on it and fouled it off. After that pitch, I reminded myself to wait on the ball against this guy.”
Stola’s mental note paid off. He laced the 3-2 pitch into the right center field gap for a double. Schwartz scored rather easily and Tini raced around all the way from first, giving the Tigers an 8-6 lead. Once again there was pandemonium in the Northport dugout.
“That was awesome,” Stola said. “I knew I had to come through in that clutch moment. I appreciate that my coaches trust me by putting me high up in the order and I feel like I’ve got to deliver in that spot.”
After allowing a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, Schwartz got the next three batter, all on strikes, to preserve the win.
“Jason came in and was outstanding,” Lynch said. “He got the grounder in the seventh inning that should have ended the game, but instead of letting it bother him, he got out of the inning and struck out the last three batters of the game. That was a tremendous job by Jason.”
With the win, Northport is 5-2 and stays within the top tier of teams in League II, along with Bay Shore (6-1), Connetquot (5-1) and Huntington (4-2). Bay Shore travels to North Babylon on Thursday while Northport is at Half Hollow Hills East.
For more photos, visit tbrnewsmedia.com.
Christine Biernacki
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