ATLANTIC BEACH, NY — It may be hard to imagine a bigger occasion on a softball diamond than a diving catch for the final out in a championship game, but when Alex Diorio dove to record the final out in the Atlantic Beach beach club softball league championship game, such an occasion occurred.
This week, Diorio is part of a team that has been named Patch's Nassau County Athletes of the Week: The Sun and Surf Beach Club softball team. Just nine days after a tornado ripped through the beach club that brought this team together, they came together once more to win their third league championship in four seasons.
To read the full story of the league championship win, click here.
Sun and Surf fell behind 3-0 in the title game, and trailed 4-1 going into the sixth inning when the sparks of a rally started to fly. Hits from Pat McCaffrey, Fred Edwards and Nelson Barriocanal were followed by more hits from Brian O'Neill and Jim O'Shea before catcher Zach Guerreiro came to the plate to bring home the go-ahead run.
After tacking on another run to bring the score to 6-4, Sun and Surf recorded the final three outs in the seventh to clinch the championship.
"It was incredible. We had all of our family there, all three of my kids were there to watch us do it," Guerreiro said. "And to be able to do it with this group of guys, we've stayed together from the start, it was really special. And, when I think about the game itself, to be down, to claw your way back after having some tough innings in the beginning of the game, it really meant even more."
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