Sports

Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook baseball team fell to the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, 10-5, in the final home game of the season for the Seawolves at Joe Nathan Field on May 12.

Prior to the game, the Seawolves honored their 2024 senior class (Evan Fox, Ryan Micheli, Matt Brown-Eiring, Quinlan Montgomery, and Brendan Pattermann) who have made lasting impacts on the program over the course of their careers. Their hard work, dedication, and contributions have and always will be greatly appreciated. 

Graduate student Ty Saunders (2-5) got the ball to start for Stony Brook (24-25, 12-12) and took the loss after allowing five runs on four hits over his 3.0 innings of work. Freshman Nicholas Rizzo allowed four runs over his 5.0 innings of work, while Montgomery allowed one run in the final inning of play. 

In the batter’s box, the Seawolves were led by Fox, who went 1-for-4 on the day with a home run and three RBI. The home run for Fox marked his 200th career hit and third bomb of the season. Brown-Eiring compiled a standout day at the dish as well, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Johnny Pilla also contributed for Stony Brook, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate. 

Saunders and the Seawolves kept the Fightin’ Blue Hens off the scoreboard in the first two innings of play. The right-hander stranded two runners in the first inning and followed with a 1-2-3 second inning for Stony Brook. However, Delaware got to Saunders in the third by tallying four runs, including a three-run shot from Loynd to give the road team a 4-0 advantage. 

Delaware kept the offensive attack on Stony Brook by scoring a run in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth inning to go up 8-0. After Rizzo held Delaware scoreless in the sixth and seventh inning, the Fightin’ Blue Hens would score a run in the eighth to take a 9-0 lead. But, the Seawolves offense would get to work in their half of the eighth inning by tallying five runs in the inning to cut the deficit to 9-5. 

Beginning the charge in the eighth inning rally was Matt Miceli and Cam Santerre reaching on a hit by pitch and drawing a walk. With two runners on base, Fox mashed his 200th career hit by leaving the left field fence, making the score 9-3. Following the single from Pilla, Brown-Eiring would come up with his team-high sixth home run of the season that cut the Delaware lead to 9-5. 

The road team would capture another run in the top of the ninth and left a Seawolf runner on base in the final inning to ultimately  secure the 10-5 victory. 

Up next, the team returns to the diamond on May 16 as they head to Boston to battle Northeastern in a three game set. First pitch for the final CAA series of the season is slated for 2  p.m. and can be streamed live on FloBaseball.

The athletic teams at Commack brought home the gold for their school and fellow students. For the first time in the school’s history, the Commack Boys Bowling team won the Suffolk County championship and went on to compete in the state finals where they came in third.

Maintaining their winning streak, the Commack Kickline ‘Cougarettes’ won the Large Varsity Kick National Title and the National Title in the Medium Varsity Team Performance at the 2024 National Dance Alliance Competition in Orlando, Florida. This was their third consecutive kickline title at this competition.

Legislators Trotta, Kennedy and Sanin who represent the Commack area, invited the teams and their coaches to the May 7 General Meeting of the Legislature where they were recognized for their accomplishments. Also attending in support of the teams were School Superintendent Jordan Cox, Principal Carrie Lipenholtz and Athletic Director Patrick Friel.

“These athletes have demonstrated the importance of working together as a team to advance success and all of us in Suffolk County are very proud of their accomplishments,” stated Legislator Rebecca Sanin. “I am so proud of these students and their coaches and what they have achieved. They are an inspiration to all,” noted Legislator Leslie Kennedy.As a graduate of Commack High School North, I am so impressed by the skills of these student athletes and the leadership and determination of their coaches,” said Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta

Pictured with the Commack Bowling team and coach Brian Gasser at the Suffolk County Legislature are Legislator Rob Trotta (rear, center), and Legislators Leslie Kennedy and Rebecca Sanin (front, right).

Members of the Commack Kickline and Head Coach Alexa Armentano (right) are pictured with Legislator Rebecca Sanin (front, kneeling, left) and Legislator Rob Trotta (rear, center) with Commack Superintendent Jordan Cox (next to Trotta), Principal Carrie Lipenholtz (second row, left) and next to her Athletic Director Pat Friel.

By Steven Zaitz

With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, Newfield Wolverine starting pitcher Matthew Hesselbirg fired a no-hitter on Friday, May 3 against Northport to keep his team alive in the postseason hunt. 

The senior righthander struck out seven Tiger batters and walked two over seven innings and despite not allowing a hit, fought through several troublesome innings when Northport put multiple men on base.

The Wolverines scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to secure the 2-0 win. Newfield right-fielder Brandon Seddio drew a one-out walk in the fourth and then stole second. Tiger pitchers Tyler Roethel and Vincent Staub combined to walk three batters in a row to force in Seddio and give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. Seddio would knock in center fielder Kevin Brown in the fifth inning with a single to make it 2-0.

Meanwhile, Hesselbirg got harder to hit as the game wore on.  The Tigers had a man on second and third in the second inning but Roethel flew out to Brown to end the frame. Tiger catcher Reid Johansen reached on an error in the fourth and advanced to third on a ground out and a wild pitch. But he got no further. Hesselbirg struck out the side in order in the fifth and faced the minimum in the sixth.

He hit Tiger third-baseman Cody Hammer with one out in the seventh and allowed a walk to right-fielder Sean Buchanan to put the tying runs on base.

But Tiger pinch hitter Anthony Sylvanus hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Cayden Davis, who started a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and give Hesselbirg his no-no. 

Roethel pitched 3 2/3 innings and was charged with the run in the fourth. He struck out four. Side-armer Vincent Staub pitched the final 2 1/3 for Northport.

Newfield (7-9) needs to sweep Centereach in a three-game set this week to make the playoffs.  Centereach is the first-place team in Suffolk Conference III. Northport (10-8) has clinched a playoff spot, despite the loss, and will play Sachem East to close the season.

– Photos by Steven Zaitz

Wildcats score. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

What began with the inaugural battle for the Cat Cup back in February — a fundraising event to help three local families battling cancer — culminated with the annual Lax Out Cancer games at the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field in Shoreham Saturday, May 4. 

The event was met with brilliant sunshine in a day-long event that featured lacrosse games, food, 50/50 raffles, auctions along with activities sponsored by the Police Athletic League, with special event gear for sale where the smell of barbecue filled the air. 

The event has been held annually since 2009 which is run entirely by volunteers along with generous donations by local businesses. 

The girls kicked off the competition with the varsity lacrosse team, which beat Long Beach, 10-7, in a non-league game which was followed by the boys varsity lacrosse team squaring off against Hauppauge. The Wildcats edged Hauppauge 8-6 in the Division II matchup. 

These victories made the day an even bigger success.

By Steven Zaitz

It’s a good news and bad news scenario for the Northport Lady Tiger flag football team.

Starting with good news, they clinched a playoff berth for the first time in team history and finished the year with an 8-4 record equaling a marked improvement from 2023 when they were 4-4-1.

After losing to Walt Whitman on April 10, the Lady Tigers strung together seven wins in a row, averaged 32.4 points a game during that stretch, and established themselves as a major factor on the Suffolk County flag football scene.

But that pesky bad news — in dropping their final two games of the season to North Babylon and Connetquot, scoring nary a point in either contest, Northport dropped to the eighth seed in the playoff tournament bracket and needed to win a play-in game against No. 9 Sachem East — which they did 19-14. Their reward? A date with the mighty and unbeaten Half Hollow Hills combined squad that has not lost a league game all year and has outscored its opponents 287-69. And oh yeah, the Lady T-Birds are the defending Suffolk County champs.

On a windy Saturday afternoon at Connetquot in Islandia, Tiger sophomore quarterback Grace Gilmartin, who has played brilliantly during the Tigers winning streak, was 9 for 26 for 82 yards and 2 interceptions. The second pick, by Connetquot linebacker Lilia Weeks, occurred late in the game and deep in Northport territory. Lady Thunderbird running back Ines Ruiz took an option pitch from quarterback Makayla Morganelli on the very next play 10 yards for the only score of the game. The final was 6-0.

Many of Gilmartin’s passes were knocked down or blown off course by the gusty wind in what was predictably a low-scoring affair for both sides – and is so often the case, the team that makes the biggest mistake ends up on the losing end. On this day, the pick by Weeks in the last five minutes of the game represented this mistake.

Connetquot played spoiler and they finished 3-4-2 and out of the playoffs. Northport has cleared its first hurdle with its playoff win against the Flaming Arrows. The next one against Half Hollow Hills will be higher.

Comsewogue’s Carson McCaffrey delivers in a home game against West Babylon. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

With the baseball season playoffs just around the corner, Comsewogue (9-6) hosted West Babylon (11-4) in the first game of a three-game series Tuesday, May 7. West Babylon struck first in the top of the fourth inning to take a one run lead, but the Warriors answered back in the bottom of the inning when Anthony Manetta drilled the ball straight away, plating Kevin Schnupp to make it a new game at 1-1.

Breaking the stalemate, West Babylon crossed the plate in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly to retake the lead, 2-1, but the Warriors were unable to answer for a final score. In a pitchers duel, Brandon Hancock just outpointed Comsewogue’s Carson McCaffrey.  

With two games remaining in their regular season, Comsewogue will look to improve their playoff ranking before postseason play begins May 14.

By Bill Landon

Longwood Lions were no match for the visiting Patriots of Ward Melville, Monday, May 6. By the bottom of the fourth inning, Longwood trailed 5-2 after which their bats fell silent. Ward Melville stormed further ahead in the top of the 5th, when Julianna Russ drove in three runs, Avery Wierzbicki plated a runner as did Izzy Parente. With these five runs, the Patriots took a 10-2 lead. Russ’ bat spoke once more in the top of the seventh inning scoring Wierzbicki to take an 11-2 lead into the bottom of the inning. 

Longwood down to their last three outs were unable to answer the call as the Patriots prevailed with the 11-2 victory in the League I matchup.

Ward Melville’s Russ pitched a complete game allowing five hits.

The win lifts Ward Melville to 8-8 with two games remaining before postseason play begins.

Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

For the second year in a row, the No. 14 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team has won the CAA Championship after defeating the No. 2 seed Drexel, 9-6 on May 4. With the win, the Seawolves earn their 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a streak that dates back to the 2013 season and they extended their season-long winning streak to 12 games in a row.

Stony Brook captured its 10th conference championship title in program history (two CAA, eight America East) and won its ninth at home inside Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

The Seawolves were fueled by a standout defensive effort en route to victory as they limited the Dragons to just six goals, 15 shots, and eight shots on goal. In addition, the Stony Brook defense forced 18 turnovers and held Drexel’s top scorer Corinne Bednarik to just one goal and a season-high seven turnovers.  

 After trailing 2-0 midway through the second quarter, Stony Brook senior defender Clare Levy charged towards goal with a full head of steam and found the back of the net for the Seawolves’ first goal of the game. The Stony Brook crowd erupted when Levy scored, and it gave the Seawolves the momentum that it needed to close out the first half.

Drexel took a narrow 3-2 lead into the halftime break after the teams traded goals to close out the second quarter. Stony Brook took control of the game in the second half and used a 6-0 run to take the lead and never looked back.

The run was fueled by five different goal scorers as Ellie Masera (scored twice), graduate attack Kailyn Hart, graduate midfielder Charlotte Verhulst, graduate midfielder Erin MacQuarrie, and graduate attack Morgan Mitchell all tallied goals over the run.

Masera led all players with a game-high three goals to pace the scoring for the Seawolves. Hart registered a pair of goals for her 15th multi-goal performance of the season and 11th in a row. The aforementioned Levy, Verhulst, Mitchell and MacQuarrie all tallied one goal apiece.

 Verhulst helped the Seawolves win the battle for the draws as she recorded a season-high seven draw controls, which allowed Stony Brook to out-draw Drexel, 12-5. Masera added a pair of draw controls and set the Seawolves’ single-season record for most draw controls with 136. The senior moved past Kerri McCarthy, who previously held the record with 135 draw controls in 2018.

Defensively, Hines continued her dominance as she caused five more turnovers and she too set a Stony Brook single-season record. With her 60 caused turnovers, Hines moves past Brook Gubitosi (55 in 2017) for the most caused turnovers in a single season in program history.

Four Seawolves earned All-Championship Team honors for their standout play in the tournament. Masera, Verhulst, Hart, and Levy were named members of the All-Championship Team, with Masera taking home the Most Outstanding Performer honor.

Head coach Joe Spallina is now 21-1 in conference tournament games as Stony Brook head coach and the Seawolves have won 20 consecutive conference tournament games under him.

“What a crazy game, right? I’m really happy for our players,” said Coach Spallina postgame. “Drexel came in and played a hard game. … I’m proud of how our players responded. Defensively I thought we were phenomenal the entire game, and I thought we played really good offense. For the seniors to go out with a win at LaValle Stadium, that’s apropos,” he said.

Up next, the team is set to take on MAAC Champion Niagara in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Syracuse on May 10, at 2 p.m., as announced during the Selection Show on May 5. The winner of the first round matchup will face No. 3 seeded Syracuse on May 12.

Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook University softball team defeated North Carolina A&T, 2-1, on May 4 in the regular season finale. The Seawolves won their sixth consecutive series over a conference opponent and secured the No. 3 seed in the 2024 CAA Championships.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Seawolves put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the third inning. Stony Brook pushed across a run on a single from Catherine Anne Kupinski, scoring Alyssa Costello from second base.
  • After the Aggies rallied to tie the ballgame at one, the Seawolves came back to retake the lead in the seventh inning. Katherine Bubel came across to score on an error after Alicia Orosco put the ball in play, which brought the Seawolves lead to 2-1.
  • After allowing a lead-off single to start the seventh, Ashton Melaas stranded the tying run on base by retiring the next three hitters.

STATS AND NOTES

  • Stony Brook closes the regular season with 34 wins, its most since the 2014 season.
  • The Seawolves earned their 18th road win of the season, tied with Boston U., Marist and Oklahoma State for the most in the NCAA. Stony Brook’s 18 road wins are a program record.
  • The series win is Stony Brook’s sixth consecutive. The victory clinched the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
  • Melaas picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Stony Brook. She threw 3.2 shutout innings while giving up one hit, allowing one walk and striking out seven. The win was her 10th of the season and eighth in CAA play.
  • Mia Haynes started the ballgame, tossing 3.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits, with two walks and three strikeouts.
  • Kupinski recorded Stony Brook’s lone RBI of the game.
  • Naiah Ackerman and Alyssa Costello registered a pair of hits apiece.

“It was great for us to win the game and the series, and to improve in several areas from Friday to Saturday,” head coach Megan T. Bryant said. “Mia and Ashton combined to give us a chance to win, and our defense was outstanding. We are proud of our regular season and now look forward to the tournament next week.”

By Steven Zaitz

Top Soccer, the outreach program of U.S. Soccer, or “Special Soccer” is a community-based program for young athletes with disabilities, designed to bring the opportunity of learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl.

The Smithtown Kickers Top Soccer program is one of the largest of its kind in the region. It is led by Ernesto Cabello, powered by a group of amazing volunteers and is available to all children with special needs. 

Its special Saturday soccer program runs for nine weeks during the fall and spring seasons.  

These programs are provided free of charge by the Smithtown Kickers Youth League and Cabello and his staff are very proud of what they have built over the last 15 years for this program.

Bob Kinney, Maryann Passeggiata, and Jodi Feinne help Cabello run the program, which uses local kids with soccer backgrounds, known as buddies, to help guide its participants through drills and games.

“Bob has been here from the beginning and has grown the program from about 12 kids to the 70 that we have now,” said Cabello. “He is a saint.”

For more information on volunteering for this vital program visit, www.smithtownkickers.com/Default.aspx?tabid=843309