New Hyde Park Baseball Falls To South Side, 5-4

The South Side High School baseball team scored in the top of the seventh to defeat host , 5-4, in a Nassau Conference A crossover on Monday.

In a game that was played well by both sides in that remained close with neither team ever being ahead by more then one run. With tough pitching and solid bats, this was a true battle until the last out.

South Side got on the board first, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. New Hyde Park quickly responded adding a run of their own in the bottom of the first to bring the score within one. The score was knotted there until New Hyde Park broke it open in the bottom of the third inning with a solid showing of the bats.

It see-sawed back and forth from there until South Side scored the winning run in the top seventh. New Hyde Park had some great hits in the bottom of the inning to try to make a comeback, but they weren’t able to.

Heroes: Joseph O’Callaghan had an outstanding game for the Gladiators. He had many key hits that helped keep New Hyde Park in the game. A player scored off of his RBI single in the bottom of the first, giving New Hyde Park their first run. His RBI double in the bottom of the third put the Gladiators in the lead and he was a part of the late surge in the seventh with a key hit to keep hope alive. 

Pitcher Pat Merdian had another strong showing on the mound with tough pitching that kept the South Side batters guessing. It was definitely a battle of the pitchers in this game and Merdian was able to stand his ground. Merdian pitched the entire game. As a senior, he also hopes to bring his pitching talents to the next level, looking at St. Thomas Aquinas College, which is Division II and a member of the East Coast Conference.

Turning Point: The bats came alive in the bottom of the third; New Hyde Park took charge of the game, notching two runs to take the lead from South Side. Francesco Terrero reached base on a walk then stole second and third. Rob Scatorchio had an RBI single, scoring Terrero to tie the game at two a piece. Scatorchio stole second and scored off of a RBI double from O’Callaghan that then put New Hyde Park in the lead for the first time.  

Quotable: Coach Doug Robins was very happy with the play of his team, attributing the close game to great pitching and swift bats.

“Both pitchers played extremely well," Robins said. "Both kids threw strikes, and for the most part the defenses played well behind them. It came down to timely hitting, and unfortunately they got one more than us. That is all it came down to today."

Bottom Line: Making sure players don’t get frustrated is something Robins wants to make sure of.

“I just want to keep these guys ready for the next game, not letting them get down on themselves," he said. "We have a very young team and we lost two one-run games in a row. So we have to make sure that we are ready for the next one.”

Teams.......................1...2...3...4...5...6...7 -- F

South Side.................2...0...0...1...1...0...1 -- 5

 New Hyde Park..........1...0...2...0...1...0...0 -- 4