Clarkstown South Baseball Redeems Itself with 10-3 Victory Over Rival Clarkstown North

The Clarkstown South High School baseball team came out strong Friday and was rewarded with the sweet taste of redemption as they defeated their crosstown rivals Clarkstown North, 10-3.

The win marks the Vikings' first this season, as they improve to 1-3, as well as their head coach Vinny Michello’s first win as a varsity head coach.  Michello is in his first year as head coach and his 11^th at South.

"This is my first year and first official win," said Michello.  "It couldn't have come against a better team, Clarkstown North.  I wish it were game one against Albertus, but it feels good."

For Michello and the Vikings, the important thing was to stay focused and make the fundamental plays.  Their attention to detail was evident as they did not make a single error throughout the game.

"We just focused on the little things,” said Michello.  “Mechanically, we did sound, up at the plate and in the field.  Just constantly working hard and doing things right.  We knew we were going to catch a break and put a nice game together.  Hopefully it's one of many."

This win is an important one for the Vikings, as it shows them to be a  competitive team within their league.

"We know we're a good team,” said Michello.  “Like I said, the last game at North, we just stranded too many base runners.  Today, we got some timely hits, we had a good outing by Evan Paliotta who threw strikes and we didn't make any errors.  That's the winning formula."

The Rams, who were coming off a 4-0 start to their season and a dominant victory over South Monday, did not seem to be themselves Friday as they were plagued by a total of nine errors throughout the game.

"We were flat,” said North’s head coach Mike Pisano.  “There's a couple innings where we gave them more than three outs.  Very, very sloppy today.  They hit the ball and got some key hits and hit the ball hard, but we gave them five outs in the first inning.  You just can't do that against any team.  They're a decent team, they're certainly better than an 0-3 team.  They always get up for us too, they're going to play with intensity when they play us, no doubt.  So today, we were just flat."

For Pisano, part of the issue was the rain this week, which forced them to reschedule the rematch between the two teams from Wednesday to Friday.

"We've been waiting three days for this game with the rain and I think that set us back,” said Pisano.  “We were on a good roll, we were on a high from the game before, I think if we played the next day, or just one day off, I think it makes a big difference.  We got rained out and we showed up to the field yesterday, we're ready to go and it's rained out again, so I think that momentum that we built from a big win  Monday was lost with the weather, but hey, that's the game and we just weren't sharp."

The losing pitcher, North’s Rob Abdallah, struck out three, walked three and let up six runs, five of which were earned in three innings pitched.  He was replaced by Pat Jankun, who pitched two innings before being relieved by Greg Baron in the sixth, who closed the game for North.

”Robby didn't have as good command as he usually has, but he had decent velocity, it's just, you've got to make the plays,” said Pisano.  “We didn't make the plays, we didn't get many big hits, the runs even that we got were sort of sloppy runs.  It was a sloppy game, I felt, both ways and they took advantage of our throwing the ball around, not fielding the ball clean.  Just really bad, little league type errors and that's the deciding factor.  We didn't come to play, but maybe it's an eye-opener for us and will make the guys work a little bit harder."

The winning pitcher, South’s Evan Paliotta, had a great day of it as he struck out six and let up two hits but no runs in four innings pitched.  He was relieved by Matt Lawson in the fifth, who struggled as he walked home two runs before being relieved by Eric Cayne, who let up one run as he closed out the game for South.

"I was feeling alright,” said Paliotta.  “We had a couple rain outs, so I got more days rest and I was feeling good."

For Paliotta, the win was a major one for a number of reasons.

"It was really big, because we went 0-3 and it's our first home game, and our coach hasn't got a win yet as a varsity coach,” said Paliotta.  “So we wanted to get him his first win and for us too, because we needed to pick up the season."

South was fired up out of the gate as North went three up and three down in the first.  North struggled defensively in the bottom of the inning and South’s Andy Rose took advantage as he put the Vikings on the board with an RBI single.  He then took home on an error to make it 2-0 going into the second.

Paliotta had another 1-2-3 inning to keep the Vikings in the lead.  He then followed this up in the bottom of the second with a 2 RBI single with bases loaded.  Matt Marks followed him with a bomb to centerfield for a 2 RBI double which put the Vikings up 6-0.

Neither team would score again until the top of the fifth, when Lawson came in to relieve Paliotta.  With one out, Lawson walked two and hit one to load the bases.  Anthony Barbetto then flew out and it seemed like Lawson might get out of a tough situation.  He continued to struggle however and walked two home before being relieved by Cayne, who closed out the inning with a strikeout.

South quickly got those runs back and more in the bottom of the inning.  With two up and two down, Jankun was making quick work of the Vikings and having a strong start in the game.  He then walked Rose, who scored on the next play off an overthrow to first.  Marks later doubled to bring home Cayne to make the game 8-2.  Rich Cesca then hit a shot which turned into a 2 RBI double off an error at home.

"We kept pounding it and didn't give up the entire game,” said Marks.  That's pretty important to us with our culture, it's just never to give up."

With the score now 10-2, both lineups went cold until the top of the seventh, when the Rams made their last attempt at a comeback.  North’s Nick Termine opened with a double and then Jimmy Fleming brought him home with an RBI single. North could not keep it going however and South clinched their first win of the season.

Marks led the charge for North with three RBIs.  Cesca and Paliotta had solid games with two RBI’s a piece and Rose capped it with one RBI.  For North, it was Jimmy Fleming with one RBI.

"I think our approach was much better this game,” said Marks.  “The first game we were hitting and swinging up in the zone, and this game our approach was going opposite with everything.  It was good."  He added, “"We practiced our approach at the plate, hitting the opposite way and hitting line drives.  That was the most important part of our game and our fielding was very important to us, so we played really solid today."

For the Vikings, this victory is not only a major win against their rivals, but also makes a statement about them as a team this season.

"We just didn't want to fall 0-4,” said Marks.  “It was against our rivals and we needed to get a win against our rivals.  For the seniors, it was the last time playing North potentially and we were really set on getting that win and it was Coach Michello's first varsity win, so that was pretty important to us."  He added, "It definitely shows that we're up there in the league and no one's to be taken lightly.  We just need to come ready to play every day and we should be able to win."

Paliotta agreed, saying, "It was really big, because we went 0-3 and it's our first home game, and our coach hasn't got a win yet as a varsity coach, so we wanted to get him his first win and for us too, because we needed to pick up the season."

Despite a tough start to the season, with a major win under their belts, they’re ready to keep rolling right onto the league championships.

"It's certainly big,” said Michello.  “We still have the league championship in front of us, that's a goal of ours.  It's just nice to get rolling and start playing clean baseball.  Next week we have a tournament, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday up in Renegade Stadium, which should be a nice tournament.  We're ready to start rolling and hopefully we can string a few of these together."

South plays next Monday, Apr. 18, at 12 p.m. at the Bulldog Classic in Dutchess Stadium in East Fishkill, NY.  North plays today at home against John Jay East Fishkill at 12 p.m.