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Plainedge Captures Nassau A Title for First Time Since 2012

by John Sullivan

After winning game 1 by a score of 13-3, Plainedge was able to finish off their dominant undefeated run through Nassau County on Friday afternoon and capture their first County Championship since 2012 over the reigning champions, Wantagh, with a 6-3 victory.

Eager for that Championship, the Red Devils did not sit back and wait for runs. Mike Calapai worked a one-out walk against Wantagh starting pitcher Luka Sumberac and stole second and third, while Jaxson Torres worked a two out walk and stole second. With two runners in scoring position, the senior center fielder Brady Henderson came through big time with a single into center that scored both Calapai and Torres for an early 2-0 Plainedge lead. In the bottom of the first, senior Towson-commit Taylor Nitsch took the mound feeling confident with a lead. Despite this, he still walked lead off batter Nick Lattanzio and gave up a single to two batter Ryan Tullo. After notching a strikeout against Sal Ansaldi and getting cleanup hitter Joe Riso to roll over, it seemed like Nitsch was out of the jam with a 4-6-3 double play, but Plainedge shortstop Dom Santivasci threw the ball away and allowed Lattanzio to score. After another Nitsch strikeout Plainedge led 2-1 after one. 

After his error, Santivasci started off the second at the plate with a single up the middle and a stolen base. With a runner in scoring position and no outs, Luka Sumberac was able to bear down well for Wantagh, as he notched a strikeout on Rob Northrop, forced a popup from opposing pitcher Taylor Nitsch and got Mike Calapai to ground out for the scoreless inning. The bottom of the second was scoreless as well, as Nitsch attacked hitters and got a pop out and two groundouts for a quick 1-2-3 inning. 

In the top of the third, Bobby Wescott led off with a walk for Plainedge and junior Jaxson Torres drove him after driving a ball over the center fielder’s head for a triple that extended Plainedge’s lead to 3-1. Sumberac then got a popup from Henderson, hit A.J. Calapai, and walked Santivasci to load the bases with one out. In a situation where the game could have been blown open, Sumberac executed on the mound and made a great pitch to force a 6-4-3 double play and keep Plainedge’s lead at two. In the bottom of the third, Nitsch continued to attack hitters and got outs doing so. He worked around a Ryan Tullo double by striking out Ansaldi and Riso to leave Tullo stranded at second for a second consecutive scoreless inning of work. 

The fourth inning started off easy for Luka Sumberac after a Ryan Colon groundout and Nitsch line out got him two quick outs. But, Mike Calapai didn’t let him get off the hook easily, as he drove a two strike curveball into the left center field gap for a ground rule double and Stony Brook-commit Bobby Wescott followed that up with his own double into the left center field gap to score Calapai and make it 4-1. After Sumberac hit the next batter with a pitch, he was taken out for Nick Benisvy, who walked the first batter he faced, but got A.J. Calapai to pop out to third to keep the score at 4-1. In the bottom half of the fourth, it was Wantagh’s bottom of the lineup who showed signs of life and sparked hope of a comeback. With one out, six batter Ray Azzariti hit a single into left and seven better Charles Cascino worked a walk. That’s when eight batter and catcher Matt Rackley stepped up and drilled a ball into the gap for a clutch two RBI triple that put the tying run on third. With the score now at 4-3, Nitsch kept attacking and induced two weak fly outs in a row to maintain the Plainedge lead after four. 

Now pitching in just a one-run game, Benisvy threw a very smooth top of the fifth for Wantagh, retiring Santivasci via the pop out, Northrop via the line out and Colon via the grand out. In the bottom of fifth, facing Wantagh’s 2,3 and 4 hitters, Nitsch responded with a 1-2-3 inning of his own by inducing a Ryan Tullo groundout, a pop out from Sal Ansaldi and a strikeout looking on a nasty curve against Riso. 

Plainedge had their top of the order due up in the sixth, which meant it was the perfect time for some insurance runs while leading just 4-3 and nobody wanted that more than starting pitcher and lead off batter, Taylor Nitsch, who tripled to get the inning going. With the infield now in, Benisvy got Mike Calapai to ground out to second for the first out, but he couldn’t stop Bobby Wescott from driving another ball into the left center field gap, this time for an RBI triple that scored Nitsch. Jaxson Torres then followed up the triple with his second RBI hit of the game by ripping a line drive into center field for a single. Ryan Tullo was eventually called on to get the final out of the inning for Wantagh and Plainedge held a 6-3 lead with just six outs to go. No surprise to anyone, Nitsch once again went right after batters in his sixth inning of work and got two quick outs via the groundout to short from Micheal Amodio and Ray Azzariti. After a Charles Cascino single, Nitsch was unphased, as he broke off another nasty two strike curveball to get a big strikeout for the third out, this time against Matt Rackley. 

In the top of the seventh, Plainedge failed to add to their 6-3 lead and Taylor Nitsch jogged out of the dugout to start the bottom half, hoping for a complete game and Plainedge’s first county championship since 2012. The inning started off smoothly for Nitsch, as he got Vinny Napolitano to ground out to short for out number one. Nick Lattanzio then blooped in a single and Ryan Tullo grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out. Just one out away from going 26-0 through the class A division of Nassau County, the Plainedge section rose to their feet in excitement and Nitsch delivered like he had done all day and year long. He forced Sal Ansaldi to ground out and Plainedge captured the Class A Nassau County Championship for the first time since 2012! They will attempt to keep the immaculate season alive in the LIC next week against the winner of Kings Park-Sayville.