The Trusted Home of Amateur Baseball on Long Island – From Travel through College

search icon
advertise with us

News

Mepham Overcomes Early 3-0 Deficit for Gritty Road Playoff Win at Division

by Trevor Dugan

Mepham rallied back from an early 3-0 deficit Monday to earn a convincing 11-4 victory over Division in the first round of the Nassau County Class AA Playoffs. 

Nassau County AA uses a round-robin, double elimination playoff format. With their victory Monday, Mepham guarantees themselves at least two more games, while Division is pushed to the brink of elimination ahead of their Tuesday afternoon matchup with No. 4 South Side High School. 

Division scored three runs to jump ahead in the bottom of the first, plating their first on an RBI single by senior shortstop and Farmingdale State commit Jason Perez. Two more runs came in on an RBI single up the middle by sophomore third baseman Brayden O’Toole, pushing the Blue Dragons’ lead to 3-0.  

Mepham answered Division’s offensive outburst with a rally of their own in the top of the second, scoring six times to wrestle back the lead, all with two outs. A walk to senior left fielder Jackson Seifert and a double by junior center fielder Lucas Eagleston put Mepham in business, before junior right fielder Teagan Cardona doubled them both home with a one-hopper over the right field wall. 

Cardona finished 4-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored Monday. Eagleston finished 3-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Mepham head coach Joe Ryan told Axcess Baseball that the speedy outfielders are valuable weapons for his offense. 

“We like Lucas in the ninth spot with Teagan leading off,” Ryan explained. “They both put together great at-bats, and they’re very fast. If Lucas can get on, get in scoring position or steal a base, it helps apply pressure from the bottom of the order.” 

IMG 1049

Senior shortstop Grady Delucia and junior third baseman Jimmy Lewis each added an RBI single in the top of the second, giving Mepham a 6-3 lead.

After a shaky, three-run first inning, Mepham starting pitcher Jake Maxwell, a West Conn-commit, looked like a completely different pitcher. The senior sat down six straight batters between the second and third innings, not allowing another run until the seventh and pitching the remainder of the game for Mepham, earning a complete game victory. 

“Seeing my guys pick me up with a six spot in the second gave me all the confidence in the world,” Maxwell said after the win. “They never got down,  we could have crawled up in a ball and lost, but we kept the vibes up, put up a six spot, and won the game.”

Mepham blew the game wide open with a four-run top of the sixth, stretching their lead to 10-3. Eagleston continued his big day with a two-run single through the left side, immediately followed by an RBI single by Cardona, the right fielder’s fourth hit of the day.  

Both teams scored once more in their respective halves of the seventh inning, but Maxwell finished off his complete game to earn Mepham an 11-4 victory and give them some breathing room in the Nassau County Class AA Playoffs. 

“I told the players before the game, ‘winning today just means two more games’” coach Ryan said. “Don’t worry about who the next opponent is, just go out there and play our game, tough, gritty baseball, and have fun. You never know what’s going to happen in these games, you just have to stay in the right mindset.” 

Mepham will continue their playoff push Thursday, May 14 on the road against South Side High School.