By Steven Zaitz
The game took 19 hours to complete, but the defending Long Island champion Commack Cougars baseball team took out the Ward Melville Patriots by a score of 8-3 this past weekend, April 11 and 12.
Suspended after 5½ innings due to darkness on Friday, April 11, Commack finished off the Patriots on Saturday despite gloomy weather conditions. Reliever Justin Pagan pitched a scoreless three innings to earn the win that improved the champion Cougars’ record to 5-1 and put them in a first-place tie in Division II with Connetquot. Ward Melville dropped to 1-2 after the loss.
Trailing 3-0 in the third, a two-run double by Pats third baseman Joe Karpowicz highlighted a three-run rally that tied the score at three. It stayed that way until the top of the sixth when the Cougars broke the game open with a 5-run frame. Cougar centerfielder Anthony Antorino hit a two-run triple in that inning that made the score 6-3. They tacked on two more runs with the help of an infield error that allowed both Antorino and catcher Robbie Mascia, who reached on a walk, to score. Ward Melville reliever Dan Cornish was charged with four runs, three of which were earned, in that decisive frame. He suffered the loss.
Ward Melville committed three errors in the game, Commack committed none.
When the game resumed on Saturday morning, Sam Kay, brother of former Commack star and current Stony Brook pitcher Evan Kay, pitched the final inning and a third and struck out three batters.
Commack has won four straight Suffolk County titles and two straight Long Island Championships. During Spring recess, they will play nonleague games against St. Anthony’s and Longwood, resuming league play on April 22 against Lindenhurst.
Ward Melville plays a three-game set against those same Lindenhurst Bulldogs on April 14, April 15 and April 19.
Both teams wore military tribute-style uniforms for the game, with Ward Melville sporting a full camouflage top and Commack, whose school colors are black and gold, wore khaki green shirts.
— Photos by Steven Zaitz