Mineola Blows Out Valley Stream North 20-4

The Mineola Varsity Baseball team scored 11 runs in the first inning en route to a 20-4 walloping of Valley Stream North Tuesday afternoon .

The Mustangs, winners of five of their last six contests, are now just a victory away from securing the second seed in Conference AV-I, but need some help from a familiar foe to secure the seed – Clarke.

Clarke defeated Seaford for the , moving Mineola within one game back of the Vikings in the standings.

A Mineola win Wednesday against Valley Stream North combined with a Seaford loss to Clarke would give the Mustangs the tiebreak advantage over Seaford.

Both teams would finish at 10-6 with Mineola owning the 2-1 break over the Vikings.

Mineola continued to take care of business on the field Tuesday, responding from an early 1-0 deficit by sending 14 men to the plate.

Ryan Jenkins and Craig Weber led the contest off with back-to-back walks to set the table for slugging Jim Bulva.

The senior firstbaseman tied the game up with an RBI single which Nick Palma followed with a walk and John Caputo kept alive with an RBI single of his own.

An RBI double by Tom Ward’s plated two more runs for Mineola, extending the lead to 4-1 in the first inning.

Bulva singled home two more runs in his second at-bat of the inning to add on against the Spartans capped off by a three-run dinger from Palma that put Mineola up 11-1.

That was all right-hander Anthony Riccardi would need in Mineola’s last regular season home game. The junior struck out two batters while allowing four runs over five innings of work.

Mineola head coach Helms Bohringer applauded his team for supplying the run support to help Riccardi relax in the start.

“We put a double-digit number on the board in the first and that made it very relaxing for Riccardi,” he said. “It gave him a chance to settle down and throw the ball like he’s capable of.”

After scoring 33 runs in , Mineola has continued to carry their hot hitting streak.

In the first two meetings between the clubs, Mineola outscored the Spartans 28-6.

The Mustangs struck for four more runs in the second inning, allowing Bohringer rest some of his starters early in the game.

Mineola scored two in the fourth and three in the fifth to cap the offensive onslaught.

“We’re really swinging the bats well,” Bohringer said. “Hopefully this translates into the playoff game on Saturday.”

As for their eventual opponent, that is all dependent on Clarke’s ability to complete a sweep of Seaford and a Mineola win this afternoon.

A second seed for Mineola could move them into double-elimination play with a possible home game during the playoffs.

Bohringer’s message following the big win was to remain focused and to remain in control of their own playoff destiny.

“What we need to address from a focus standpoint is to just not give Valley Stream North let them believe that they have a chance to win,” he said.

“Yesterday, we got off the bus and scored three runs in the first inning. By the second and third inning it was 6-0 and that gave us a little bit of breathing room. It let them know that we’re here to play.”

With a second place bid on the line today, Bulva will take the mound to start the final regular season game of the year against the Spartans.

Despite being the in Conference A-VI this season, Mineola will be the Ram’s biggest cheerleader on Wednesday should the Mustangs complete the sweep of Valley Stream North.

“Let’s go Clarke,” Bohringer quipped.