Photo courtesy of Stony Brook University Athletics
The Stony Brook baseball team mounted a late comeback, trimming a five-run deficit to just one in the seventh inning, but Northeastern responded with five late runs to secure a 10-4 victory on March 28 at Joe Nathan Field.
Right-hander Eddie Smink got the start for the Seawolves and worked his way out of trouble early, stranding runners on the corners in the first after a strong throw from Luke Szepek cut down a baserunner at second to end the frame.
Matthew Jackson notched Stony Brook’s first hit of the afternoon with a double down the left-field line in the bottom half of the inning, but he was left stranded at second.
Northeastern struck first in the second inning, launching a solo homer to center field. Smink limited the damage, leaving two runners on base to end the frame.
After the Seawolves left a runner aboard in the bottom of the second, Smink bounced back with a perfect 1-2-3 third inning. He continued to deal in the fourth, working around a one-out single with a strikeout and a fielder’s choice to keep the game tight.
However, the Huskies broke through in the fifth, belting three home runs in the inning to take a 5-0 lead. Nicholas Rizzo entered in relief and induced a groundout to himself to end the inning.
Rizzo settled in, tossing a clean sixth inning, and the Seawolves followed with another scoreless frame. In the seventh, Rizzo worked around a baserunner to keep it a five-run game before Stony Brook’s offense came alive.
Nico Azpilcueta ignited the rally with a leadoff double off the right-field fence, followed by a walk from Chanz Doughty. Scott Gell delivered a clutch two-run double to cut the deficit to 5-2. After a Northeastern pitching change, Brett Davino lined an RBI single to make it 5-3, and Matt Miceli’sperfectly placed bunt single brought home Davino to make it a one-run game at 5-4.
The Huskies quickly responded, leading off the eighth with a home run and adding a sacrifice fly to push their lead to 7-4.
Stony Brook threatened again in the bottom of the eighth when Doughty drew a one-out walk and Davino ripped a double down the right-field line, putting runners on second and third. But Northeastern escaped the jam with a foul-out to maintain their three-run lead.
The Huskies tacked on three more runs in the ninth, sealing a 10-4 win.
Photo courtesy of Stony Brook University Athletics
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Stony Brook baseball responded with five unanswered runs over the next two innings on their way to a dominant 10-3 victory over Iona on March 25 at Joe Nathan Field.
Matt Sgambati got the start for Stony Brook, allowing a run in the first inning after a two-out double to right field that put Iona ahead 1-0.
Ty Panariello entered in the top of the second inning and, after issuing a leadoff walk, retired the next three batters to keep the deficit at 1-0.
Stony Brook struck back in the second inning, scoring three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Chanz Doughtyled off with a walk, followed by Scott Gell getting hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out. Chris Carson delivered an RBI single, bringing home Doughty. Carson later scored on a passed ball, and Evan Goforth added a sacrifice fly to extend the lead.
After Panariello tossed a 1-2-3 top of the third, the Seawolves added two more runs to make it 5-1. Nico Azpilcueta launched a home run over the left-field fence, and Matt Miceli followed with a single through the left side to extend the lead.
Iona cut into the deficit with a run in the top of the fourth, making it 5-2, but Stony Brook answered right back. Doughty knocked an RBI single to restore the four-run advantage.
Ryan Dieguez took the mound in the fifth inning, allowing a one-out hit-by-pitch before inducing a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame.
The Seawolves tacked on another run in the fifth to push their lead to 7-2. Carson led off with a walk, followed by back-to-back singles from Miceli and Goforth to load the bases. Miceli would later score on an Iona error, giving Stony Brook a five-run cushion.
Vincent Mariella pitched the top of the sixth, retiring the first two batters before issuing a walk, then securing the final out with a lineout to third base.
Iona led off the seventh inning with a home run to left field, trimming the deficit to 7-3. Stony Brook quickly responded with a bases-loaded walk drawn by Azpilcueta, pushing the lead back to five runs.
George Adams entered in the eighth and stranded a runner on second to keep the Seawolves in control. In the bottom half, Stony Brook added two more insurance runs. Doughty led off with a homer to left field, and Miceli brought in Nick Zampieron on a sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 10-3.
Erik Paulsen took the mound to close out the game in the ninth, retiring three of the four batters he faced and sealing the 10-3 victory with a groundout back to the mound.
Photo courtesy of Stony Brook University Athletics
Stony Brook softball took on the Charleston Cougars at University Field on March 23 and when it was all over, the Seawolves clinched a series win 5-4. Kyra McFarland capped off a perfect day at the dish with a walk-off homer. Down to their final out, the Cougars tied the game in the seventh, but it was McFarland’s heroics that ultimately decided the Sunday matinee on Long Island.
Crimson Rice made her second start of the weekend series on Sunday, starting her day with a 1-2-3 inning. Stony Brook’s offense put up three runs in the home half of the first. Alyssa Costello started things with a single through the middle, scoring on Mia Vannelli’s fielder’s choice. Emma Scheitinger plated a run on a single and a third run scored on a fielding error.Rice worked around an error behind her to complete a second straight scoreless inning to start her Sunday.
After the Seawolves went down in order in the second, Charleston evened things at 3-3 with a three-run inning of its own. The Cougars loaded the bases with nobody out and pushed a pair of runs across before registering an out.
Gabrielle Maday entered in relief of Rice, who failed to record an out in the third and allowed the first five hitters to reach base. Maday allowed one inherited runner to score, but stranded a pair of runners to keep things tied. Stony Brook put runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but could not capitalize on the opportunities.
Maday retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth, then worked around trouble to strand a pair of runners in scoring position in a tied game in the sixth.
Nicole Allen pinch hit to lead off the sixth, doubling down the left field line. Allen moved up 60 feet on a Kaiya Simpkins sacrifice bunt and then scored the go-ahead run on a Costello sacrifice fly.
Down to their final out, the Cougars tied things up on a Paradis double over Scheitinger’s head in right. Maday induced a grounder to limit the damage to one run and give her offense a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh.
McFarland did just that, slamming the second pitch she saw over the fence in center to walk it off.
“What a terrific ballgame. I think all around, all three parts of the game, our best game of the year,” head coach Megan T. Bryant said. “She’s a good hitter, she’s a fifth-year player. She works super hard in the weight room. She refused to lose there and that’s what you love to see out of a fifth-year veteran player,” Bryant added regarding McFarland’s walk-off homer.
The team hit the road for a mid-week doubleheader at Sacred Heart on March 25. The results were not available at press time but were posted online at www.tbrnewsmedia.com.
#2 Charlotte Wilmoth scored eight points for her team during Sunday's game.
Photo courtesy of Stony Brook University Athletics
Stony Brook women’s lacrosse scored nine of the game’s final 10 goals to pick up its sixth win of the season, defeating the Delaware Blue Hens 16-8 in Newark, Del. on March 23. The Seawolves improve to 6-3 on the season and a perfect 2-0 in CAA action.
It was a team-effort for the Seawolves offensively as Charlotte Wilmoth led the Stony Brook squad with a season-high eight points on four goals and four assists, as Riley McDonald and Alexandra Fusco each tallied three goals. Molly LaForge and Casey Colbert notched a pair apiece, while Isabella Caporuscio and Olivia Schorr each scored one goal.
Defensively, Avery Hines collected a team-high four ground balls and four caused turnovers. In net, Natalia Altebrando continued her string of successful outings, making a career-high eight saves on the day with her third-straight contest with a .500 save percentage.
After a Delaware tally to start the game, A. Fusco notched a goal to tie it up early. The Blue Hens then got their second of the day as it became a back-and-forth affair with the Seawolves collecting a pair of goals for their first lead. Delaware answered with two of their own to take a 4-3 advantage into the second quarter.
Stony Brook scored four with Molly LaForge scoring her first of the season and Wilmoth collecting a quick hat trick with three straight. The Blue Hens’ Ella Rishko would score at the buzzer to bring Delaware back within one and the Seawolves led 7-6 at halftime.
The Blue Hens added another coming back from the break to level the score 7-all, as Stony Brook went on a 7-0 scoring run through almost 15 minutes of play to conclude the third quarter and continue into the fourth.
Delaware got one more on the board before a pair from the Seawolves to close out the Sunday matinee and secure their second CAA victory of the season.
The team heads back to Long Island to begin a three-game homestand on March 26.
Suffolk County Ballpark receives new field, mound, bullpens and outfield wall
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Long Island Ducks team officials have announced the completion of a new turf field installation at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, 3 Court House Drive, Central Islip, home of the Atlantic League ball club. The new FieldTurf playing surface, installed by local supplier LandTek, will begin to be utilized this April for the Ducks 25th Anniversary Season on Long Island.
“This Capital Improvement is part of the ongoing effort by the County of Suffolk to update County buildings while keeping Fairfield Properties Ballpark operating at the highest professional level in partnership with the Long Island Ducks,” said Romaine. “The new turf field will improve efficiency greatly, save millions of gallons of water per year, and be more environmentally friendly, eliminating the need for fertilizer and chemicals on the playing surface in future seasons.”
The field renovation included full replacement of the entire playing surface, pitching mound, bullpens and padded outfield wall. With the conversion to an artificial surface, the Ducks are now the eighth team in the 10-team Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a Partner League of Major League Baseball, to convert to turf.
“Keeping our ballpark atop the list of favored destinations for Major League players looking to continue their careers is important,” said Ducks President/Chief Business Officer Michael Pfaff. “This project, along with our commitment to keeping ticket prices affordable and parking free, allow us to continue to deliver on our promise of providing the most fun, fan friendly and affordable entertainment experience on Long Island for many years to come.”
The Ducks open the 2025 regular season, presented by Catholic Health, on Friday, April 25, against the Lancaster Stormers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). Tickets for all Ducks games are now available and can be purchased by visiting the ballpark box office, calling (631) 940-TIXX or going online to LIDucks.com.
The Long Island Ducks are entering their 25th Anniversary season of play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and play their home games at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, N.Y. They are the all-time leader in wins and attendance in Atlantic League history, have led all MLB Partner Leagues in total attendance for four consecutive seasons, and have sold out a record 713 games all-time. For further information, visit LIDucks.com or call 631-940-DUCK (3825).
About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)
Celebrating its third decade, the Atlantic League is Major League Baseball’s first Professional Partner League, a player gateway to the Major Leagues, and a leader in baseball innovation. Over its 26-year history, the ALPB has sent over 1,400 players to MLB organizations while drawing over 47 million fans to its 10 family-friendly ballparks that stretch from New York to North Carolina. Please visit www.AtlanticLeague.com.
The Stony Brook baseball team overcame a 3-0 deficit heading into the sixth inning, rallying with six runs over the final four frames to secure a 6-3 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens in Newark, Del. on March 23. This win marks their first CAA victory of the season.
John Rizzo took the mound for Stony Brook, setting the tone early by striking out the first three batters of the game.Both teams managed a double in the second inning—Matthew Jackson for Stony Brook—but neither was able to push a run across.After a one-out single by Delaware in the bottom of the third, Luke Szepek delivered a clutch throw to erase the runner at second, followed by a lineout to end the inning.
The Blue Hens struck first, plating three runs on two hits in the bottom of the fourth.
Following a quick 1-2-3 fifth inning for both teams, Stony Brook ignited a comeback in the sixth, tying the game at 3-3. Evan Goforth sparked the rally with a double to left field, followed by walks from Johnny Pilla and Nico Azpilcueta to load the bases. Jackson came through in the clutch with a two-RBI single up the middle, scoring Goforth and Pilla. Szepek then drew a bases-loaded walk, allowing Azpilcueta to cross the plate and tie the game.
Nicholas Rizzo entered in the bottom of the sixth and worked out of a jam, stranding two Delaware runners with a flyout to end the inning.
In the seventh, Erik Paulsen delivered a game-changing moment, launching a home run into the right-field trees to give the Seawolves a 4-3 lead.
Jacob Pedersen took over on the mound in the seventh, striking out two batters with runners on base and stranding another in the eighth to preserve the lead.
Chris Carson led off the ninth with a double to right field and later scored on a Delaware error. Goforth added insurance with another double to left field, bringing home Matt Miceli and extending Stony Brook’s lead to 6-3.
Pedersen sealed the victory by stranding two more runners in the ninth, forcing a game-ending groundout.
Up next, the team returns home to Joe Nathan Field on April 1 to host Iona. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., with live streaming available on FloBaseball.
The Rocky Point High School cheerleading squad. Photo courtesy of Samantha Ferrara
By Rich Acritelli
Rocky Point High School won the New York State championship in varsity cheerleading on March 8 in Binghamton. Led by the big smile and the can-do attitude of their second-year coach Samantha Ferrara, the girls completed a memorable season. Ferrara is a 23-year-old graduate from this school district. During her first season, they won the nationals in Florida and in the previous year as a junior varsity coach the squad went undefeated.Over the last three years, Ferrara has been a no-nonsense, motivated, drama-free and caring coach.
From 2014 to 2019, Ferrara was an extremely capable “flyer.” As a seventh grader on a national championship team, she was one of the finest cheerleaders in this state as she was recognized with all-division and county honors. In 2018, she was picked as Suffolk County Cheerleader of the Year for her excellence in this sport. Ferrara was recruited by the universities of South Florida and Rhode Island but chose to cheer at Hofstra. After an elbow injury and the pandemic, she decided to retire from cheerleading and transferred to St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue to major in teaching secondary mathematics. Ferrara has already gained a wealth of experience as a substitute teacher at Rocky Point High School and had leave replacements at Baldwin High School and Longwood Junior High School.
This year, Ferrara led a combination of an experienced group of varsity girls and newer faces to replace six key graduates from last year’s team. Ferrara identified the will of this team, as keeping matters light and absorbing what they were taught, and quickly implemented it during practice and against opposing teams. Ferrara is thankful to be coaching at Rocky Point and feels that this position has been a “dream job” utilizing the lessons that were taught to her years ago that “nothing would be handed to you” and “we were taught to be the best.” And next to Ferrara is her trusted assistant Jessica Fleischer, a talented cheerleader and graduate of Sachem North. Both were on the 2018 All Long Island team and they cheered together at Hofstra University. Ferrara enjoys working with Fleischer and views her as an experienced coach.
Ava Almeida. Photo courtest Jonathan Rufa
Another feat accomplished during this year’s winter sports season was through junior Ava Almeida’s pole vaulting. Recently, this outstanding athlete earned a 10-foot height score and, for a second time, represented this school at the winter track and field state championship. Impressively, she tied the school winter record and scored first in Suffolk County and on Long Island. Starting this sport in the ninth grade, Almeida has constantly pushed herself to learn about this event and to follow an upper and lower body weightlifting regimen. Almeida looks back on this season and believes that her hardest competition was against Half Hollow Hills High School West and East Islip High School.
Almeida has been training with Apex Vaulting, which she says has been a tremendous support system. She recognizes the important tutelage of Rocky Point varsity girls coach John Mattia, who ensured that Almeida participated in additional meets. Only in her third year of pole vaulting, Almeida started jumping 7 feet and quickly improved to 10 feet last season. Through her daily schedule of lifting weights for the upper and lower parts of the body and conditioning, there has been tremendous improvement over the last year.
One of the strongest student athletes at Rocky Point High School, she is an honor student and has been placed on the principal’s list. Currently, she takes advanced physics, honors algebra and human anatomy; she plans to pursue a college degree that focuses on becoming a physician’s assistant. As she enters the spring season, Almeida is determined to pole vault 10 feet 6 inches for this outdoor track and field event. Almeida will surely return next season as one of the best pole vaulters on Long Island and perhaps in New York State.
Trevor Green. Photo courtesy the Green family
Trevor Green, a two-sport athlete, will return this fall as one of the best runners in all of Suffolk County. An impressive junior student-athlete, Green has already committed to the University of Minnesota for swimming.
Before the state tournament, Green was recognized as the most outstanding swimmer in Suffolk County and is highly regarded among his peers. Last week for two days, the best swimmers from Buffalo to Montauk traveled to Ithaca. During the first day, the boys swam in the time trials to determine if they would be swimming in the finals and for their lane placement.
Hearing the massive support that Green received from his family, friends and fellow swimmers, for two days Green dominated the pool. It was an exciting event, where these swimmers completed many different events and distances in front of a highly charged crowd of fans. Green swam well, but he expected to do better in his final race event.
Since he was nine years old, Green has emerged as a dominant backstroke and individual medley competitor (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle). Green placed second in the state in the individual medley and third in the state for the backstroke. In ninth grade, Green placed 14th in the 200-yard individual medley and second in the 500 freestyles. As a sophomore, Green took second and 14th in these same events. Next week, Green will be racing against some capable competition in the sectionals that are being held again at Ithaca College.
Heading toward his senior year, Green should be pleased with all his numerous achievements in both running and swimming. Looking at the state championships, Green believed, “I knew there was going to be good competition and would push me to good times. I wanted to rebound off my performance from last year and finish in the top three. I’ve been pushing myself hard in practice and it paid off.”
Congratulations to the mighty athletic results of coach Ferrara and the varsity cheer team, Almeida and Green on their abilities to shine against the rest of the state.
Stony Brook men’s lacrosse dropped a highly contested, back-and-forth matchup at Towson on March 22, 13-12, in overtime. Freshman Brendan Marino led the Seawolves offensively, notching a season-high five goals. Stony Brook came out of the gate hot, opening the game with back-to-back goals from Marino. Towson promptly responded with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead with 3:48 remaining in the first quarter.
The Tigers’ lead was short-lived. Less than a minute later, Marino scored a goal to secure a first-quarter hat trick and even things at 3-3 heading into the second.
Towson regained momentum early in the second, opening the quarter with a pair of goals to take a 5-3 lead.
The Seawolves answered, closing the second quarter on a 4-2 run. Goals in the final minutes from Kian McCoy and Marino evened things at 7-7 heading into the half.
Richie Dechiaro scored a goal for Stony Brook early in the third quarter to open the second half scoring and take back the the lead for the Seawolves. Following that, Collin Williamson and Robbie Smith each netted two goals, extending the Stony Brook lead to 10-7 with 8:21 left in the third.
Towson scored two out of the following three goals as the Seawolves took an 11-9 advantage in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers scored the first two goals of the fourth to tie the game at 11-11 with 6:55 remaining in regulation. The Seawolves answered back just 34 seconds later with a goal by Justin Bonacci, making it 12-11 in favor of Stony Brook with 6:21 remaining in the fourth.
With just under three minutes to play in regulation, Towson found the back of the net to even things at 12-12 and eventually force overtime.
In sudden death with 3:15 to play, Towson’s Josh Webber buried the game-winner to walk it off for the Tigers.
The team will return to LaValle Stadium next Saturday, March 29 for a matchup against No. 15 Fairfield at noon.
The Stony Brook baseball team jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage, but an eight-run outburst in the third inning by Delaware ultimately propelled the Blue Hens to an 8-1 victory in the series opener on March 21 in Newark, Delaware, marking the start of CAA play for the Seawolves
Erik Paulsen extended his on-base streak to all 19 games this season by recording a hit in the first inning. However, the Blue Hens turned a double play to end the top half of the frame.
Eddie Smink took the mound for Stony Brook, striking out the first batter he faced and stranding a runner to keep Delaware scoreless through one.
The Seawolves struck first in the second inning, as Nico Azpilcueta led off with a walk and Matthew Jackson followed with an RBI double to put Stony Brook ahead 1-0.
After Smink stranded a runner in the second, the Seawolves applied pressure again in the third, loading the bases with two outs, but they were unable to push another run across.
Delaware responded emphatically in the bottom of the third, plating eight runs behind two home runs to seize an 8-1 lead.
Nicholas Rizzo entered the game in relief for Stony Brook in the fourth and tossed a perfect 1-2-3 inning. He followed up in the fifth by stranding two runners, keeping the deficit at 8-1.
Ty Panariello took over in the sixth and struck out all three batters he faced. He continued his dominance by retiring the side in order in both the seventh and eighth innings.
Luke Szepek collected a one-out single in the seventh and advanced to second, but Delaware escaped the inning with a strikeout.
In the ninth, Szepek added another single, and Matt Miceli was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with two outs. However, the Blue Hens closed out the game with a flyout, securing the 8-1 win.
Stony Brook softball survived a late comeback effort from Charleston, defeating the Cougars 5-4 on March 22 at University Field. Emily Reinstein provided the go-ahead, two-RBI double, Jordyn Fray picked up her first collegiate win in relief and Gabrielle Maday staved off Charleston’s late rally to notch the save.
Emma Scheitinger started the scoring in the second inning, jumping the first pitch she saw from Charleston’s Kutter and hitting it off the scoreboard in left field to put Stony Brook ahead, 1-0. The homer was the first of Scheitinger’s collegiate career.
Seawolf starter Maddie Male escaped trouble in the first, stranding the bases loaded, before retiring the side in order in the second.
Male retired two of the first three hitters in her second turn through the Charleston lineup to begin the third inning, but back-to-back two-out singles plated a run and another came around to score on a designed first-and-third steal play.
Fray took over for Male to start the fourth inning, allowing a two-out triple that pushed another run across for Charleston.
Trailing 3-1, the Seawolves scratched across a run in the fourth. Kaiya Simpkins reached safely on a throwing error from the left side of Charleston’s infield and the errant throw allowed Mia Vannelli to score.
Fray set down the Cougars in order in the fifth, sending her offense back out to take claim of the lead again.
Vannelli hit a bloop single into right field with two outs, scoring Kyra McFarland with the tying run. After Scheitinger was hit by a pitch, Charleston turned to its bullpen. Reinstein welcomed the new pitcher with a two-out, two-RBI double into over the centerfielder’s head to give the Seawolves a 5-3 lead.
Maday entered in the sixth to protect the lead, doing so with a clean sixth inning.
After allowing back-to-back singles to start the seventh, Maday secured the first out on a fly ball to right field.
An infield single loaded the bases with one out. Charleston sacrificed an out for a run with another fly ball to right, but could not plate another. Maday induced a grounder to short that McFarland handled and fired to first to secure a win for Stony Brook.
“It was a really tough ballgame and I’m super proud of our team for turning the page after yesterday’s loss, coming out and playing a complete game to get the win today,” head coach Megan T. Bryant said.
Up next, Stony Brook and Charleston play the series finale on Sunday, March 23. First pitch is slated for noon from University Field, streaming live on FloCollege.
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