By The TimesLedger
The Bayside Little League 8-year-old baseball travel team has had to play all of its games on the road this summer with the new construction taking place at Crocheron Park. The team got off to a slow start, but has been coming on lately just in time for the playoffs. Bayside advanced to a showdown with DAC this week in the semifinal round of the Seplowe Tournament with a rousing 8-7 extra-inning win at Forest Hills last Saturday.
The game had all the drama expected in a tight playoff contest as Forest Hills rallied to force a seventh inning with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to knot the game at 7-7. Bayside pushed across a run in the top of the seventh and held on to win with some dazzling defense.
Rushing out to an early lead, Bayside road the shoulders of Thomas Karcinski, who hit a tape-measure triple for two RBIs, to go with an RBI from Dominic Formato for a 3-0 advantage after one inning. Dean Papakostantis was over-powering on the mound, pitching to just 11 batters while striking out eight in his three-inning shutout stint.
Forest Hills responded in the fourth inning to tie the score at 3-3 on a three-run triple by Corey Hunter, but Bayside would answer the next half inning with a double by John Aponte to give the visitors a 5-3 advantage. Closing to 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth, Forest Hills ace Tesa DeCandido was brought in to stem the tide. Formato (1-for-3, three RBIs) would answer for Bayside in the top of the sixth with a two-run homer, scoring Papakostantis (2-for-3, double) ahead of him for what seemed to be a comfortable 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. But the fun was just beginning.
Hunter would again provide the offense for Forest Hills, tripling with the bases load to tie the game at 7-7. He would be left stranded at third base as the winning run after some clutch pitching turned in by reliever Frankie Biordi. With one out and the winning run 55 feet away, Biordi induced a pop out and fielded a perfect bunt to throw out a Forest Hills base runner at first for the third out to force the extra inning.
Second baseman Anthony Scianna would jump-start the Bayside offense in the seventh with an infield hit and scored the lead run on a one-out walk with the bases loaded by Aponte (1-for-2, three RBIs). Trailing 8-7, Forest Hills would threaten with a single and a hit batsmen, putting runners on first and second with no outs. The defensive play of the game came next as Biordi fielded a one-hopper back to the mound, turned and forced the lead runner at third base and third baseman James Jordan threw a strike to shortstop Jordan Colflesh for a 1-5-6 double play. Biordi would then strike out the final batter and be mobbed on the mound after the final out.
The winner of this week’s Bayside-DAC game will play top-seeded Elmjack in the Seplowe Tournament championship. The Bayside 8-year-old travel team is coached by Dominic Scianna, Mike Karcinski and Ben Biordi. Other members of the team include: Joey Pravata, Michael Marden, Nicky Maccia, Sam Rowen, Ryan Paccione, Nicky Manetta and Barry Porzogulo.
