Chaminade Baseball Tops Friars 6-3 in First Semifinal Game

 senior righthander Eric Truss struck out eight in five innings and the Flyers baseball team collected timely hits to earn a 6-3 win over  in Game 1 of the best-of-three Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA semifinal series Monday at Farmingdale State.

St. Anthony’s (13-7) must come back and win Game 2 on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to keep its season alive. Chaminade (15-4), which had five different players score runs, has in four tries this season.

Heroes: St. Anthony’s leadoff hitter Matt Zsevic (2-for-4) stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh, representing the tying run. He hit a long drive to left. But instead of a two-run double, Chaminade senior Ryan Hopke caught it for the final out.

“I said, ‘Oh boy’ as soon as he hit it,” Chaminade coach Mike Pienkos said. “But that leftfielder is very good and covers a lot of ground.”

Hopke (1-for-3) also scored the decisive run in the fourth to give the Flyers a 4-3 edge.

Turning Point: Friars catcher Mike D'Acunti drew an intentional walk with one on and two out in the fourth. Rich Patrizio walked one batter later. Then Ryan D’Alessandro singled up the middle, bringing home Nick Gargan to forge a tie at 3.

D’Acunti moved from second to third on the play, then made a mad dash for home. It could have been a key moment in a big inning for St. Anthony’s. 

But Chaminade catcher Andrew Pohalski was waiting with the ball along the third base line. D’Acunti plowed into the catcher and knocked him down. Pohalski held on to the ball. But D’Acunti was out either way. In fact, he was ejected from the game. Players are not allowed to run into the catcher. Benches cleared, but the inning was over.

Quotable: “The throw beat him by several steps and the kid came in shoulder first, which is not allowed in this league," Pienkos said. "The same thing happened earlier. [Pohalski] got run into earlier in the game and I questioned the umpire on that. Both of these catchers are tough kids."

Bottom Line: Chaminade can earn a trip to the championship on Memorial Day with a win on Tuesday. The Flyers will throw No. 2 Kevin Weissheler and hope the offense can keep on clicking. Third baseman Andrew Gallagher went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk on Monday, leading a lineup that collected eight hits. Eight of nine players reached base.

Key Stat: St. Anthony’s stranded 13 runners on base, including eight in scoring position. 

Who’s Next: Game 2 of best-of-three Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA semifinal series. at Farmingdale State.

WP: Truss. LP: Sperin. SV: Gallagher.