Lakeland Beats Maine-Endwell in Regional Semifinals

Section 1 baseball champion Lakeland was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning during the regional semifinal contest when Section 4 winner Maine-Endwell made a game-deciding mistake that gave the Hornets a 5-3 triumph Monday afternoon at Pace University in Pleasantville.

With Eric Giancola on second with two outs, Maine-Endwell decided to walk Hornets cleanup hitter David Judisky and face Jonathan de Marte instead, who smacked a two-run double to left-center field for the game-winning hit.

"I wanted the chance to get the winning hit and when they intentionally walked Dave, I knew I would have that chance," de Marte said. "The first pitch he threw was a fastball low and then on the second pitch he threw a changeup. He left it up, I got a good piece of it and I hit it out there."

One reason why Maine-Endwell may have intentionally walked Judisky is because in the first inning he gave Lakeland the lead with a majestic three-run homer that went past the 390-foot wall in center field.

"We don't rely on the home run, but we are able to hit the ball out of the ballparks we play in with our four and five guys [Judisky and de Marte,]" Lakeland coach Dennis Robinson said. "They threw David a pitch that was in his zone and he hit the ball a country mile."

Judisky's homer drove in himself, Giancola, who walked and Chris Salvo, who singled. That gave winning pitcher Justin McCarthy a three-run lead, something he maintained for the first three innings. McCarthy explains he was able to throw his changeup for a strike when Maine-Endwell were looking for fastballs and were hitting soft groundballs, which threw them off balance.

The one inning Maine-Endwell was able to get to McCarthy was the fourth, when it scored three runs to tie the game. Nate Reynolds drove two of those runs in on a homer.

It looked like Maine-Endwell would threaten again, but a diving catch in left field by Giancola off the bat of Ty Yesensky in the fifth inning prevented the Spartans from starting a rally.

"When I saw that Eric caught it I had the biggest smile on my face because I know that could have been a double and everyone in that lineup can hit," McCarthy said. "I didn't want a man on second base regardless of if there was two outs or one out. I didn't want them having a man in scoring position with a chance to take the lead."

McCarthy then got his revenge on Reynolds in the sixth inning when he struck him out looking.

"That at bat I actually threw fastballs and the rest of the game I was throwing him off speed stuff so I don't think he was ready for it," McCarthy said. "I was able to paint that outside corner with a fastball."

McCarthy said he was happy in the bottom of the sixth when de Marte put the Hornets in the lead for good.

"It felt amazing," McCarthy said. "When he got that hit, it was the best mood I have ever been in my entire life. I knew we were going to win after that."

After getting the big hit, de Marte earned the save by coming on the mound and getting the final three batters in the seventh by striking out a Spartan and inducing two fly outs.

"With Jon on the mound, you have to always like your chances," McCarthy said. "Then, if we beat Cornwall, it's me and Jon on Saturday."

Lakeland will play Section 9 champion Cornwall in the regional championship game today at 4 p.m. at Pace University. The winner of Lakeland-Cornwall game will go to the state final four on Saturday at10 a.m. against Wantagh at Union-Endicott High School. The state championship game is also played on Saturday at Union-Endicott at 4 p.m.