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Three-Run Rally in Sixth Propels Centereach to Series Win Against Rival Newfield

by Trevor Dugan

Centereach came out on top in the rubber match of their series against Newfield Thursday, rallying from behind multiple times to earn a 7-3 win and series victory over their Middle Country rival. 

With multiple starters injured, several Centereach players got a shot at increased playing time throughout this week’s series. One such player was right fielder Logan Diaz. After a game winning RBI in Game 1 of the series, Diaz came through yet again with a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning of Thursday’s win. 

“Diaz came up huge today, I told the guys from the beginning that even though we’re riddled with injuries, determination and mistake-free baseball is going to win this game,” Centereach head coach Peter Cammarata told Axcess Baseball. “This team shows determination every game they play. Since day one, there’s no quit in them. Today it showed.”

Sophomore starting pitcher Tyler Geib got the win for the Cougars, tossing five strong innings while allowing three runs on just three hits. Not typically a member of the Centereach rotation, Geib made the most of his opportunity Thursday.

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After a scoreless first inning, Newfield took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Sophomore shortstop Brandon Navratil got the scoring started with an RBI double, before Brandon Seddio knocked in another with an RBI single. 

Newfield SP Cayden Nikomen was lights out to begin the game, striking out five batters over the first two innings. Centereach got to him on their second trip through the lineup, however, scoring their first run in the top of the third on an RBI double off the bat of Michael Buonagura to cut the lead to 2-1. 

After a shutdown bottom of the third by Gieb, Centereach tied things at 2-2 in the top of the fourth when catcher Gavin Servellion knocked an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Following the game-tying single, Nikoman was replaced by sophomore Aydin Walker, who would pitch the remainder of the game for Newfield. 

Newfield wrestled the lead back in the bottom of the fifth when Seddio came through with his second RBI single of the day after a hard fought, 9 pitch at-bat that saw him foul off four pitches. Gieb was able to escape the inning without any further damage, keeping Centereach close as they headed into the sixth inning trailing 3-2. 

The lead would change hands for the final time in the top of the sixth when Centereach rallied for three runs to take a 5-3 lead. Gieb helped himself with an RBI single to tie the game at three, before Diaz delivered the go-ahead single to put Centereach on top.

“I was just looking to hit a ball hard somewhere, he threw me a fastball in the zone and I got a good piece of it,” Diaz said after the game. “We were all thinking about attacking the fastball early.”

Gieb was replaced in the bottom of the sixth by Buonagura, who would pitch the last two innings for Centereach, allowing just one hit and striking out four. The Cougars added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh to push things to 7-3, but Buonagura could have done without them. He pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, finishing it with a strikeout and exploding with emotion as he strode off the mound to celebrate the victory. 

With the win Centereach improves to 4-5 on the season. Following an intense three-game set, coach Cammarata commended rival Newfield on a hard fought series. 

“We played a very good Newfield team this week that is always well coached, and we kept the energy up,” Cammarata said. “It is a rivalry, but we’re all in the Middle Country family, and it’s a healthy one.” 

Now 7-5 on the year, Newfield will return to action Monday, April 27, when they begin a three-game series with Northport. Centereach will return to play the same day, at home against Copiague.