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Sports

Mineola Baseball Stages Comeback Over Lawrence

Grandslam from Matt DePalma gets first win for Mustangs of 2013 season.

Tied 6-6 against Lawrence Tuesday, Mineola senior Matt DePalma strode to the plate with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. The Mustangs had already squandered a 3-0 lead in the third, allowing 6 runs to cross the plate and had suffered a 10-5 loss against Lynbrook to open the season the day before.

DePalma ended up belting it, driving a grand slam and ending his day 2-3 with 5 RBI and a stolen base to boot. Mineola would go on to score 6 more runs for a 16-8 final, evening their record at 1-1.

“I’m very proud of the fact that we bounced back,” Mineola head coach Helms  Bohringer said. “Yesterday in the game that we lost, the same thing kind of happened, we had the lead then we gave up the lead and we didn't bounce back. Today it was nice that they bounced back.”

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The Mustangs got out to an early 3-0 in the third thanks to an RBI single by John Lusardi who drove in Nick Cerame who led off with a triple. Then they capitalized on suspect Lawrence defense which suffered from two errors by the third baseman and one from the pitcher who tossed a pickoff attempt into right field.

“The fact that 80 percent of the guys were hitting in the cage at 6:30 in the morning to work on some of the things we didn't do yesterday was nice to see,” Bohringer said. “Then to come out and hit the ball the way we did, it shows that if they want to work we will see results.”

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Mineola starting pitcher Scott Berger was sharp early, featuring a very deceptive looping curveball but ultimately struggled in the third. He was able to complete the inning, but not before allowing 6 runs to score. The damage could have been less but a towering fly ball dropped between the second baseman, right fielder and center fielder for a two-run single.

Bohringer decided to call on catcher John Lusardi to relieve Berger. The junior, who is normally a middle-infielder, tossed a scoreless fourth and fifth inning to give the Mustangs some much needed length.

The final two innings were very slow moving, which featured some sloppy play on both ends. Ultimately, Lawrence put up two runs in the sixth but were silenced in the seventh.

Mineola will continue their tough schedule on Thursday at Valley Stream South.

The Mustangs aim to finish the opening crossover portion of their schedule at .500.

“The team is very confident, Bohringer said. “There are some teams that are beatable and some are very tough. I felt that today’s game was one that we could win if we played as well as we could and you can't lose to teams you are supposed to beat.”

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