Massapequa Baseball Run Ends

Massapequa junior lefthander Alex Cosenza pitched six strong innings.  

But Ward Melville junior righthander Chris Cepeda was better, throwing seven shutout innings. Cepeda squeezed the comebacker in his glove and sprinted toward first base before flipping the ball to Phil Carballeira for the final out.  

Then mayhem ensued as the entire Ward Melville baseball team converged on its star pitcher, burying Cepeda under a sea of yellow jerseys and assorted arms and limbs.  

Cepeda continued his clutch postseason, tossing a three-hit shutout as the Patriots edged Massapequa, 1-0, Tuesday to claim the first Long Island Class AA championship in program history.  

“I knew Chris Cepeda was throwing a gem today,” Ward Melville Coach Lou Petrucci said.  

No one was more impressed than senior Anthony Kay, who scored Ward Melville’s lone run and is the staff’s ace. “Unbelievable – that’s all I can say,” Kay said of Cepeda’s performance. “I knew he was in a zone. I knew he could do it.”  

Nassau champ Massapequa (20-6) threatened in the top of the seventh. Brian Flecker reached on a fielder’s choice and went to second on a groundout one batter later. That set the stage for No. 9 hitter Matt Pagano, who gave the capacity crowd of 750 at the Dowling Sports Complex in Shirley something to chew on when he lined an 0-1 pitch down the right field line just foul.

“I was really, really confident today in my fastball and my pitches,” Cepeda said. “I knew I could get out of it. I loved that moment.”  

Cepeda, who earned his seventh win of the year and finished with three strikeouts, served up a 1-2 pitch that Pagano grounded back to the mound. Game over.

Related: Game Photos

“When you get to this level, that’s what you expect,” Massapequa Coach Tom Sheedy said of the pitchers duel.

Kay and Cepeda have been as unhittable as any pitching duo in the state of late.   

Ward Melville (20-5), fresh off its first Suffolk title, moves on to the state Final Four Saturday 10 a.m. at Binghamton University. The Patriots will face the Shenendehowa-Baldwinsville quarterfinal winner.

The Patriots scored their lone run in the bottom of the first. Kay’s one-out bunt single was followed by Greg Coman’s double. Kay came home on junior Kyle Pedroli’s ground ball to second.

It was the one blemish in an otherwise strong performance by Cosenza, who gave up seven hits and struck out five.  

“Alex gave us a great effort,” Sheedy said. “He gave up some hits, but he battled all the time and got key outs when he needed to.”