Final: Smithtown East 3, William Floyd 2
WP: Tom Fanning (4 IP in relief, 0 R, 1 H)Nick Porrello: go-ahead RBI single in 4th
Smithtown East will face Longwood on Saturday pic.twitter.com/KvoEUP63N0
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2025
Typically the No. 9 hitter is not the most feared hitter in the lineup. But in their two playoff games, Smithtown East’s senior Nick Porrello has driven in five runs and been front-and-center in both wins.
After defeating the four-time reigning Suffolk Champs, Commack, on Tuesday they followed that up with a gritty 3-2 win on a freezing day in Saint James against No. 11 William Floyd.
“Any coach that we played against, if you talk to them after they play us, they’ll say that kid is not a 9-hitter. He’s accepted it, he knows where he stands and the kid fights.”
The big moment in this game came in the bottom of the fourth inning with William Floyd leading 2-1. Evan Schickler led off with a walk and Joseph Koppelman was hit by a pitch. Andrew Carbonara sacrificed them both into scoring position and Bobby Eck drove a fly ball to right field deep enough to score the tying run. Porrello came up with two outs and ripped a single to right to score the go-ahead which was the difference in the game.
The pitching match up was reigning League I MVP Jack Molini and Lucas Hubner.
Bottom 1: Jack Molini helps himself with an RBI single to short. John Bowden led off the inning with a double pic.twitter.com/SPEtqo3eft
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2025
William Floyd jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after John Bowden led off with a ground-rule double to left field. After a strikeout and a come backer, Jack Molini helped himself with an RBI single to shortstop.
That lead did not last long, though.
After an error and a stolen base, Nick Fiorentino came through with a two-out RBI single to score Michael Derosa to tie the game at 1-1.
In the top of the third, Hubner issued two free passes and coach Rob Christensen made the call to the bullpen, bringing in senior Thomas Fanning.
“We have a lot of confidence in Hubner starting games, but once the team gets rolling, it’s the playoffs, we want to stop the momentum as soon as it starts. Tom is calm and throws strikes, mixes up all his pitches, and he doesn’t get fazed. We know that we can throw him in there, he’ll be able to make his pitches and get some outs,” said Christensen.
It turned out to be a brilliant move as Fanning answered the call with four shutout innings of relief, yielding just one hit.
He escaped that jam in the third, and also threw up zeros in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to give his team a chance to win the game. He handed the ball over to Evan Schickler who got the job done firing a scoreless seventh, although he did walk a tight rope. He allowed a leadoff single to Andrew Marino, but he was caught stealing. He walked John Bowden, and Kiernan Mehmel followed with a single, but Schickler picked off Bowden at second base for the second out. After he walked Aidan Dobrie, Molini grounded out to third to end the game.
Smithtown East was able to hold on to improve to 19-3 on the season. They will face No.2 Longwood on Saturday on the road. Smithtown East only had three hits in the game, but they certainly made the most of their opportunities.
Jack Molini pitched a great game for Floyd, he went the distance allowing just two ER on those three hits and struck out seven.
