DiLorenzo, Panas Blank Arlington; Carmel Bounces Back

Yorktown Dazzles in Win over Byram Hills; Croton Sweeps PV

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

We’re at the halfway point of the season and the contenders are beginning to separate themselves from the pretenders.

CARMEL and FOX LANE are currently among the top five in Class AA, chasing the likes of Dutchess County powers Arlington and RCK, as well as Rockland bigwig Suffern.

Carmel stopped the bleeding with a huge win over North Rockland last week and then backed it up with another over Scarsdale to improve to 8-4. Fox Lane fattened up its record with four-straight wins last week, including a 3-1 win over OSSINING.

We’re thinking Fox Lane gets on a bit of a roll here the next 10-12 days or so, leading up to a tough slate against Yorktown, John Jay EF, Arlington and RCK; what basically amounts to a brutal, telling stretch.

After a 6-0 start, Coach Joe Hackert’s youthful Carmel Rams discovered just how tough Class AA baseball is, but the bounce-back effect was nice to see when lefty Mark Yorio allowed just five hits and struck out seven to earn the 5-3 win over North Rock. Matthew Gay struck out four over two scoreless frames, did not allow a hit and earned the save. Nevin Scaperotti, Danny Monahan and Jon Melarczik each drove home a run in the confidence-restoring win.

After losing to Fox Lane, Ossining bounced back nicely with a 3-2 win over New Rochelle behind P Nolan Sniffen, who did not allow an earned run in a complete game victory for the Pride (5-4).

CLASS A

This WALER PANAS club has some serious moxie. Coach Anthony Fata’s Panthers (10-1) hammered a Class AA Arlington club (7-2) that looked unbeatable at the time, doing so in a 7-0 thrashing that sent shockwaves throughout the section. The Admirals followed that up with another loss to RCK, signaling that Class AA is up for grabs.

St. John’s-bound Panas senior Aidan Cohall homered, drove home two and scored thrice in the win over the Admirals, supporting winning P Jackson DiLorenzo. The ECU-bound commit flourished, going the distance while fanning 10 and scattering five scoreless hits.

“Arlington was an amazing opponent, they got guys who can hit up and down the order,” DiLo said. “We were coming off a tough loss to John Jay Cross River and we were out to kill our next opponents. I trusted my teammates and myself and just competed like usual. I found control of my secondary pitches around the fourth inning and it was over after that. It helped to have our offense working that day especially with Aidan Cohall going big fly in the first inning. I had some help on the defensive side with our middle infielders Gavin Carlucci and Sammy Stafura with some amazing plays as well.

In the Panthers’ 5-4 win over Tappan Zee, Panas OF Tony Humphrey drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth and reliever Alex Enea earned the win. Panas SS Sam Stafura mashed a pair home runs, added three RBI and truly started looking like the kid Clemson has hopes for.

“Cohall is looking better than ever and Sammy is getting hot at the right time right now with two bombs against TZ,” DiLorenzo said. “I’m glad to see him back, quite honestly. Once he’s back for good and we get our whole lineup swinging it like usual, I think we are going to be more than okay. I’m excited to see what we can do.”

In Panas’ 6-0 win over Lourdes, Carlucci looked every bit the part of a No.3 pitcher, firing a one-hitter with six whiffs to earn the win. Panas C Danny Witters had three RBI and OF Cohall added two.

If YORKTOWN could just figure out some consistency issues, though baseball is baseball and consistency is only as good as your starting pitcher the next day, the Huskers might make some noise this spring. Yorktown was the first team to put blemish on BYRAM HILLS this year, doing so with an 11-3 win behind the blistering bat of Jon Munoz, who went 5 for 5 with two doubles, three RBI and a run. Dylan Koch added two hits and two RBI while Nick Pace went 3 for 3 with an RBI. Joe Lupinacci and Tommy Shkreli combined for Yorktown to serve the Bobcats (9-1-1) their first loss.

But Yorktown followed that up with a somewhat stunning 7-6 loss to LAKELAND Saturday in the annual Sorrentino Cup game, which the Huskers have owned in recent years. But Hornet Dom Toscano delivered the goods for the Hornets (5-8), going 2 for 4 with a triple, double and two RBI while teammate Devin Diaz went 2 for 3 with a triple and a pair of runs and Ryan McArdle added an RBI double. Yorktown scored three times in the seventh to make the Hornets sweat. Koch (1 run) and Patrissi (2 runs) each had a pair of hits for the Huskers (6-5).

MAHOPAC also got on track last week, taking a pair from BREWSTER, 7-6 and 12-1.

Indian senior Anthony DeMatteo cracked a walkoff single in the bottom of the seventh to support his own cause, earning the win in relief while providing Mahopac’s highlight of the season. Mahopac sophomore Tyler DeBrocky added three RBI and showed signs of mega-promise while Andrew Dacey drove home a pair of runs and Joey Koch had three hits, a run and a ribbie for the Indians (3-8).

In a career-effort, Mahopac P Anthony Mante fired a three-hitter and whiffed an all-time high 13 Bears in the 12-1 win. Indian SS Tyler Castrataro has been hot of late, going 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI, three runs and two base swipes. Joey Koch, Matt Bilichuk and DeMatteo poked home a pair of runs.

CLASS B

CROTON-HARMON swept a pair from PUTNAM VALLEY, taking PV pitchers by storm and scoring 19 runs. Croton’s 8-3 win saw Jack Sarcone allow no earned runs to secure the win while delivering a two-run triple to aid his cause. Aidan Callahan (2 for 3) stroked a two-run dinger for the Tigers (6-5) while Korey DeBeer added three hits and Evan Kurtz (2 RBI) had two hits.

In Croton’s 11-3 win over Putnam Valley, Callahan was again the catalyst going 4 for 5, as did Nate Bilogray (3B, 2 RBI), who supported P Harry Kahn, who allowed one earned run and fanned seven Tigers (4-6) and aided his own cause with a hit and two RBI.

CHSAA

In his 17th year at the helm of KENNEDY CATHOLIC, Coach Bob Fletcher may be at the top of his game. After losing to St. Joseph by the Sea in the city championship last year, the Gaels, who have eight players committed to the next level, are on track to take the coveted CHSAA title and last week’s 4-3 extra-inning win over Monsignor Farrell kept the Gaels on course. Bard College-bound Pierson McGinnis plated the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to keep the Gaels unbeaten in CHSAA play.