Nassau County Team Of The Week: Nassau Wins Big At States

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — While New York City came alive with the Knicks’ NBA championship win this week, the Knickerbockers weren’t the only team to bring home a championship in New York.

This week, the Nassau County Team of the Week has the story on several Nassau County varsity teams that won their respective state championships this season.

Massapequa Routs Liverpool, Plainedge Comes Up Short In Baseball States

Nassau County sent two teams to the state baseball championships, as Massapequa took on Liverpool in the Class AAA tournament and Plainedge faced Averill Park.

For Massapequa, the state title game was a continuation of a strong year for the veteran team, as they toppled Liverpool 7-1 in the championship game. Massapequa finished their season winning 14 games in a row — topping the Knicks’ playoff winning streak by one game — with a run differential of +122. Their run to the state title included a dominant win over regular season undefeated Freeport, with Massapequa winning the series in two games by scores of 10-0 and 11-5.

After beating Connetquot for the Long Island championship, Massapequa defeated Section IX representative Monroe Woodbury to get to the state finals.

In an interview ahead of the Long Island championship, coach Tom Sheedy told Patch he would be proud of his players no matter what they did in the playoffs. Even though the team came into the year with some lofty goals, Sheedy said they accomplished them.

“Our expectations were very high this year, we really thought we had a chance to win the whole thing, but that doesn’t mean you do it,” Sheedy said. “We had so many people coming back from last year, and experience is just something you can’t have enough of.”

Key to the win in the state championship game, Sheedy said, was a pitching staff that had been rock solid all season long. Taking the bump for the state title game was Jack Scannapieco, the ace of the staff. It wasn’t the easiest season for the senior, Sheedy said, noting that he struggled with injuries earlier in the spring.

“During the season he got dead arm…he didn’t have the same movement on his off-speed stuff, he didn’t have the same snap on his fastball,” Sheedy “We left [for states] on Thursday, and so, Wednesday, everyone’s throwing bullpens before Friday’s game. And he’s throwing his bullpen, and the word is ‘Jack’s back.’ So I talked to Ryan [Huksloot, who was catching the bullpen session], and — kids will say anything sometimes to hype themselves up — but Ryan said, ‘no, he looked pretty good. Really good, actually.’”

That performance held through Friday, when Scannapieco induced a pair of ground balls in the first inning that Sheedy said helped the team settle in on the biggest game of the year. While Scannapieco was crucial on the mound, there were also strong performances at the plate.

“We scored in five or six out of the seven innings, I’m not sure exactly how it broke down but we scored often,” Sheedy said. “We had guys on base every inning, people were big. Chris Sultana, a junior, Joe Gianova, I think Joe may have gone 3-3, he had a fantastic day, Brady Love, our leadoff guy. He set the tempo, wearing down the pitcher, fouling pitches off, he doesn’t swing at the first pitch and then pop up, he just wears you down.”

Ultimately, the coach said it was a proud day for a team that had always had each other’s backs.

“This was an extremely tight knit group, supporting each other in everything they did. They were very tight, and in everything they did, knowing that your teammates have your back, really helped all of them.”

For Plainedge, it was a dominant run through Long Island playoffs, as they didn’t give up a run until the county championship game against Wantagh. Across the two games against Wantagh, Plainedge conceded just six runs, winning both on their way to the Long Island championship against Kings Park, which they won 2-0. After a 5-0 regional playoff win against Marlboro Central, Plainedge was on the wrong end of a shutout in the state title game, losing 5-0 to Averill Park.

While Plainedge didn’t bring home the state trophy, the team still finished a 28-1-0 regular season with a 20-0 record in conference play and a run differential of +219.

Four Lacrosse Championships Come Home From States To Nassau County

Also coming home to Nassau County were four lacrosse championships, as Massapequa, Cold Spring Harbor and Manhasset won boys’ lacrosse titles while Cold Spring Harbor brought home the girls’ title.

For Cold Spring Harbor’s girls’ team, the title was won in an 11-8 win over Penn Yan. It wrapped up a season that ended on a 17-game winning streak to reach an 18-3 regular season mark. The march to the title included a 20-1 win over Oyster Bay, a 17-3 county championship win over Carle Place and a nailbiter in the Long Island Championship; Cold Spring Harbor came out on top in that one 9-7 over Bayport-Blue Point.

The regional playoff game was a 16-13 win over Section I powerhouse Pleasantville, before a state title win that capped the season off in triumphant fashion.

Meanwhile, Cold Spring Harbor completed a double lacrosse sweep as the boys’ team also brought home a state title, winning 11-9 over Marcellus in the title game. The CSH boys team was similarly dominant in the Long Island playoffs, defeating Locust Valley 12-2 and Bayport-Blue Point 17-12 to take the Long Island title. In state playoffs, a regional win over Bronxville got CSH to the title game.

Joining Cold Spring Harbor boys in the title wins were Manhasset and Massapequa, who won their respective titles 10-7 and 19-9.