Offense Heats Up for Patchogue-Medford

The only thing hotter than the 90-plus degree heat on Tuesday were the Patchogue-Medford Raiders bats. In a summer league game, the Raiders scored nine runs in the second inning en route to a 14-3 win over the William Floyd Colonials.

With no score after the first inning, the Patchogue-Medford bats would heat up in the second inning. Third baseman Tyler Cork led off the inning with a double in the right center field gap. Chris Vaneron followed with a single to plate the first run for the Raiders. The inning was far from over.

Second baseman Brian Cioffi doubled to left center, scoring Vaneron. Outfielder Matt Gajewski singled through the right side of the infield to keep the inning going. After an infield single by center fielder David Tornetta, Justin Mercurio singled to the opposite field to score Gajewski. Pitcher Matthew Vogel then singled up the middle followed by a hit from first baseball Tom Rubinstein.

In his second at-bat of the inning, Cork singled to score two more runs.

Vogel held William Floyd scoreless for the first two innings. He was relieved by Nick Stumpo, who held the Colonials scoreless in the third. William Floyd finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when third baseman Mike Rachun hit a home run over the left center field fence.

William Floyd added a run in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Raider bats would remain hot. In the top of the sixth, Vogel hit a one-out double, which was followed by a single by Rubinstein. After catcher Tom Palmese walked, Cork got his third hit of the game, a double that scored Vogel and Rubinstein. 

"The ball bounces off the bat better when it's hot," said Cork of the hot weather, which is more conducive to hitting. 

Patchogue-Medford would add three more in the top of the seventh on a three-run home run by Mercurio, who pulled the ball over the right center field fence. The left-handed hitting Mercurio said he usually hits to the opposite field, but decided to turn and pull an inside pitch. "When I pull [the ball], I usually ground out to second a lot so I'm going to try to keep going the other way. When they try to sneak an inside pitch by me, I'm going to try and pull it," he said. 

In their last two games, the Raiders have certainly gotten their bats going, defeating East Islip 11-0 and now William Floyd 14-3.

"The warm weather, the wind blowing out, it was fun hitting weather," said coach Tony Frascogna.