Massapequa Coast's Junior League took the field hungry for a chance to advance to the finals of the state tournament. Unfortunately, they ran into a Floral Park team that was just as motivated and who took a 6-3 decision in a see-saw battle.
Massapequa entered as the visiting team and tried to strike quickly. Shortstop Bobby Honeyman, had the first hit of the game, a blooper just past the second basemen's glove. But it was the only hit of the inning as Massapequa left its first runner on base.
In the bottom of the first, Massapequa's starting pitcher, Andrew Camarda was in complete control as he shut down Floral Park for a quick inning, retiring all three batters. Camarda had five strike outs in the game and helped with the bat, smacking a double in the 6th which scored a Massapequa run.
With the score standing at 1-0 in favor of Floral Park in the top of the third inning, Massapequa was knocking at the door with a runner in scoring possiton. But Floral Park's Brandon Mandile saved a run and maybe the game.
The second baseman robbed Nick Garland of a huge hit that would have scored Nick Breslin who had drawn a walk and stolen a base. Mandile dove and caught Garland's line drive and completed a double play by catching Breslin at second before he could get back.
Massapequa finally was able to capitalize on its hits in the fifth inning when it scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead. Breslin drove in a run with a monster line drive to left field and Nick Garland also had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
With a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, Camarda found trouble. Floral Park loaded the bases with no outs which forced a pitching change. The coaches brought in lefty, Patrick Healy, who came into the game from right field to try and hold off the surging Floral Park team.
It wasn't to be. Floral Park scored five times to take a 6-3 lead into the seventh and final inning. Minus a single from Nick Breslin the Massapequa Coast side just couldnt muster a late inning rally to overcome their deficit.
Coach Craig Garland knew this was a huge game and knew his team played hard. "This was a tough loss," he said adding that all the coaches were proud of their team.
Massapequa played a tough game, making few mistakes. A play in the fifth inning shows how well they worked together as a team.
Nick Breslin was playing third when he caught and then droped a ball. His teammate Bobby Honeyman grabbed it before it hit the ground. That's the type of play that made them Long Island champs.
