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Perfect Run Continues: Nitsch and Torres Lead Plainedge to Class A Long Island Championship

by John Sullivan

Saturday night’s matchup between the Plainedge Red Devils and the Kings Park Kingsmen was what Long Island Championship games are all about.

It was the best versus the best, as Nassau County Champion Plainedge carried a 26-0 record into the game and also featured some of Long Island’s best players, including Stony Brook-commit Bobby Wescott, standout junior Jaxson Torres, and Towson-commit and starting pitcher, Taylor Nitsch. Standing in the Red Devils’ way of continuing their perfect season were the Long Island Champions from just two seasons ago and they also have some of the best players Long Island has to offer. Kings Park features Rutgers-commit Dylan Frers and UConn-commit Everett Zarzicki. 

Because of their 26-0 record, Plainedge was the home team, which meant Taylor Nitsch got to set the tone for the Red Devils on the mound to start the game, and he came out firing. He was aggressive, going right after guys and got quick outs because of it. He forced Ryan Landau to ground out to himself, struck out Kyle Nustad swinging on a fastball, and got Dylan Frers to ground out to shortstop Dom Santivasci.

In the bottom of the first, Zarzicki also came out fiercely, striking out the first two batters he faced looking at sharp curveballs. He then got to two strikes quickly against Bobby Wescott, but he was able to battle and work a walk, which allowed Jaxson Torres to jump on a first-pitch fastball for a single into center. With a chance to take an early lead, senior Brady Henderson came up for Plainedge and hit a hard ground ball, but Kings Park shortstop Kyle Nustad made the stop for the third out and to secure the scoreless inning. 

In the second, Taylor Nitsch continued to get easy outs for the Red Devils. After forcing Zarzicki to ground out to second baseman Aj Calapai, Nitsch struck out both Frankie Buffolino and Nicola Cespe by blowing fastballs by them for the 1,2,3 inning. The bottom of the second began with AJ Calapai reaching on an error by Kings Park third baseman Dylan Frers, but Zarzicki stayed poised and immediately erased the error by inducing a 6-4-3 double play ball off the bat of Dom Santivasci. He then got Rob Northrop to pop out to first and it remained 0-0 after 2. 

Nitsch began his third inning of work with his fourth strikeout and another groundout back to himself. That made it 8 straight outs for the Red Devils starter, but Joe Rossi ended this streak out of the nine hole for the Kingsmen when he ripped a first-pitch fastball into center field for a two out single. This didn’t phase Nitsch though, as he got Ryan Landau to pop out for an easy third out and another scoreless inning. Plainedge then got off to a promising start in the bottom half with a Dylan Loccisano walk to bring up the top of the order. Trying to help himself, Nitsch ripped a fastball for a hard line drive right back at the pitcher, but Zarzicki made an amazing grab and was able to double up Loccisano at first, who didn’t have enough time to get back. After a Mike Calapai single, Zarzicki forced a weak groundout back to himself from Bobby Wescott and we entered the fourth with a 0-0 tie. 

In the fourth, Kings Park managed to get runners in scoring position for the first time against Nitsch. After a Kyle Nustad line out, Dylan Frers hit a one out single and Frankie Buffolino ripped a two out single into center after Zarzicki flew out. With two outs and a chance to break the tie, Nicola Cespe hit a deep fly ball to right field, but it wasn’t deep enough and Rob Northrop made the catch to maintain the tie. Zarzicki’s fourth inning of work began with a big out against the cleanup hitter Jaxson Torres, but a walk to Brady Henderson and an AJ Calapai single put him in some trouble. With one out and first and second, Dom Santivasci hit a ground ball in the hole that shortstop Kyle Nustad made a great backhanded play on to get the force out at third. Needing just one more out, Zarzicki walked Rob Northrop, which brought up 9 batter Dylan Loccisano with a chance to have clutchest at-bat of his life, and Loccisano delivered in a big way, going the other way into right field for a huge two out, two RBI single! Loccisano’s courtesy runner was picked off at first, but Plainedge now led 2-0 after four full innings. 

Taylor Nitsch started off the fifth with an easy groundout, but Christopher Scher responded with a double in the left field gap for Kings Park’s first extra base hit. This brought up Joe Rossi, but he only saw two pitchers before it started pouring and the game went into a weather delay. Although it looked like the game would never return at one point, the rain slowed down and we were back to action about 50 minutes later. Unfortunately, this long delay meant that Nitsch’s day on the mound was over, and he was in the middle of a potential gem. He finished his day with 4 and ⅓ innings, only allowing 4 base runners and 0 runs. Luckily for Plainedge, their next man up was another premier arm on Long Island, Jaxson Torres, and he picked up right where Nitsch left off. He got a popup from Joe Rossi and then a lineout off the bat of Ryan Landau to strand Scher at second. In the bottom of the fifth, the Rutgers commit Dylan Frers took over on the mound for the Kingsmen and he was electric in his first inning, as he struck out Nitsch with a fastball swinging, sat down Mike Calapai on a nasty breaking ball that froze him, and fooled Bobby Wescott on an offspeed in the dirt. 

In the sixth, Torres started things off by getting a quick pop out to second, but a Dylan Frers infield single put a runner on. Torres then got a huge strikeout against Everett Zarzicki for the second out, but walked Frankie Buffolino. With two outs, two runners on and Plainedge just 4 outs away from a Long Island Championship, Nicola Cespe had the chance to be a hero for Kings Park. But the junior Jaxson Torres remained poised on the mound and executed, forcing Cespe to pop out to himself for the final out. The bottom of the sixth began with a Torres base hit, but Dylan Frers didn’t give in and got three quick outs to end the inning shortly after to keep the score at 2-0. 

Needing just three more outs to stay undefeated and capture the LIC, you could see the adrenaline flowing through Jaxson Torres when he took the mound in the seventh for Plainedge. He came out pumping gas for the Red Devils, blowing fastballs by both Connor Dekennipp and Christopher Scher for strikeouts and two quick outs. With the crowd roaring, Torres faced Joe Rossi needing just one more out. And on the first pitch of the at bat, Rossi chopped one to shortstop Dom Santivasci, who made the play to capture the LIC Championship and improve to 27-0 for Plainedge! They will now head up to Binghamton to try and finish off their immaculate season.