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

search icon
advertise with us

News

Connor Ackerman Fires 3-Hit Shutout to Send St. Dominic to NYS Catholic League Finals

by Anthony DiCocco

After capturing its first NSCHSAA title in 17 years, St. Dominic overcame both a thunderstorm delay and a talented opponent, shutting out the Iona Prep Gaels, 5-0, in the NYSCHSAA semifinals Friday night at St. John’s University. The Bayhawks will now have a chance to get another monkey off their back, as they will compete for their first-ever state championship at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Despite entering the postseason as the NSCHSAA’s fifth seed, head coach Joe Fusco never viewed his team as a true underdog.

“We don’t consider this a Cinderella run,” Fusco said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “We dealt with injuries all year long. We got healthy right at the beginning of the playoffs … so we’re not surprised that we’re in a really good spot.”

St. Dominic lost nine players due to injury through the course of the regular season. To get to this point, the Bayhawks were forced to rely on their depth across both their varsity and junior varsity rosters. 

“All 24 guys played a major role and this is the first year I could truly say that in all my years as a coach,” Fusco said. “We had to go deep in the depth chart and every guy stepped up and performed to put us in a spot where we would be successful come playoff time.”

Hofstra-commit Connor Ackerman was on the mound to clinch the state finals berth, just as he was two weeks ago when he allowed one run over 6 ⅓ innings to help St. Dominic secure the NSCHSAA crown. 

State Farm ken kortwright mobile ad black border

The right-hander was even more dominant this time around. Ackerman carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning before settling for a three-hit, complete-game shutout on 95 pitches. Ackerman also recorded five strikeouts and worked around three walks to go the distance.

“This is just an amazing feeling,” Ackerman said. “Not many kids on any baseball team in New York get to do this and I’m just excited for [the championship game] tomorrow.”

The Bayhawks’ lineup complemented Ackerman’s gem by getting off to a fast start. 

Dominic Muccia took the first pitch Iona Prep’s Gianluca Giordano threw and banged it up the middle for a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning. After Giordano got two quick outs, Tyler Camastro fell behind 0-2 in the count, but fouled off three straight pitches before singling to extend the frame.

With a runner in scoring position, Michael Scarry clutched up by yanking a run-scoring single through the right side of the diamond to make it 1-0.

“Scarry and Camastro are both going to be Division-I players,” Fusco said. “They work extremely hard and have put up good at-bats all year.”

Later in the game, Scarry came through again. With St. Dominic still clinging to a 1-0 lead, the Bayhawks loaded the bases with no one out in the fifth inning, before Scarry pounced on the first pitch he saw from John McGay for another run-scoring single.

St. Dominic added another run on an error and then tacked on two more as the bottom of its order delivered, with Zack Cook dumping a run-scoring knock into right field from the seven hole and Chris Vangelatos following him with a sacrifice fly to cap off the four-run frame.

“Our lineup is made up of either Division-I players or high-level Division-II guys from top to bottom,” Fusco said. “There’s no break. We do a really good job of wearing pitchers down and it showed today.”

Scarry went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in (RBI) and a run scored, while Camastro notched two hits with a walk and a run. Cook picked up an RBI single, while Vangelatos singled and tallied an RBI. Muccia singled and scored.

The Bayhawks will now turn their attention to the winner of Saturday morning’s matchup between St. Francis Prep and Nichols. No matter who it ultimately faces, St. Dominic will be hungry for its first-ever state title.

“Whoever we play is going to be a good team,” Fusco said. “I told the kids that everybody left is a champion, so everybody’s earned the right to be here, but we’re an extremely confident bunch.”