Farmingdale Baseball Eliminates Mepham in First Round of Playoffs

Three runs proved to be enough Saturday morning at Farmingdale High School, as the fifth-seeded Farmingdale Dalers took down the 12th-seeded Mepham Pirates 3-1 in the Class AA first-round matchup.

Farmingdale ace Alex Brosnan went the distance, pitching seven innings and allowing just three hits and three walks, while striking out six.

The Dalers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first, but Mepham pitcher Jordan Gilroy managed to get out of the jam by allowing just one run on a ground ball out off the bat of T.R. Waszkiewicz.

After Mepham's Dom Manzella was hit by a pitch in the top of the fourth, Greg LiCausi drove him in with a double to right field to tie the game up at 1-1.

Gilroy was replaced with LiCausi in the bottom of the fourth after allowing two runners to reach base. Dalers shortstop Vinny Schultz drove one of the first pitches he saw from LiCausi down the line for a ground-rule double, giving Farmingdale a 2-1 lead.

The Dalers started the fifth with three straight singles, the last of which came off the bat of second baseman Frank Lettieri to drive in the third and final run of the game.

“Regardless that they’re a 12-seed, they’re a varsity-caliber team and a good program," Farmingdale head coach Frank Tassielli said. "... We left a few men in scoring position, which wasn’t to our liking and made it a little to close for comfort, but we’ll take the win.”

Score: Farmingdale 3, Mepham 1

Records (overall): Mepham 7-13; Farmingdale 11-9.

Hero: Farmingdale did most of its damage on the mound, where Brosnan found his comfort zone and delivered strike after strike from the first inning to the seventh.

“With Brosnan on the mound, I think we can be in any game," Tassielli said. "He shut them down.”

Turning Point: Farmingdale had trouble getting runners in from scoring position, but Schultz's double did the trick and drove the game-winning run in for the Dalers.

“Hopefully our bats can get going," Tassielli said.

Quotable: “We didn’t always play to our highest level, but when we did we showed that we could give very good teams a tough time, like the No. 5 seed," Mepham head coach Bill Murphy said. "We didn’t give it away, they had to take it from us, and they did. So we tip our cap.”

Bottom Line: The Pirates gave the Dalers a run for their money, but couldn't get their bats going. However, Murphy was more than happy with the way his team battled.

“That’s more important than winning and losing," he said. "… We couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Farmingdale moves on to the quarterfinals and will face the fourth-seeded Carey Seahawks this Monday.

“I think we got our No. 2 [pitcher] with Chris Vitale going on Monday and I believe our draw will be Carey," Tassielli said. "They’re a good club. They got the four seed and we’re going to battle.”

Who's Next? May 16, Farmingdale @ Carey, Time: TBD

Box Score

WP (Farmingdale): Brosnan

LP (Mepham): Gilroy