High School Baseball

BY LAURA ALBANESE

Bryan Edwards in a 5-1 loss to MacArthur

Well, that was ugly. I went to Game 1 of the Massapequa/MacArthur Class AA final yesterday and neither team was at its best. MacArthur looked like it was really clicking during fielding drills but fell apart when the game started. Six errors - three on one play - and six unearned runs.

I honestly have no idea what happened. I was talking to coach Steve Costello after the game and he looked about as flabbergasted as he could be. He said the team was ill-prepared to deal with Massapequa and that he really thought that they'd be ready. I asked him, 'was it nerves?
Intimidation?' Nope. Just mentally ill-prepared.

"This isn't football or basketball, where increased effort automatically means increased production," he said. "We just lost our mental focus."

I know MacArthur has lost a bunch of their bench players to the new league format (in fact, I'm pretty sure I was sitting in front of one yesterday), and that can definitely wear on a team after awhile. That being said: The Generals are better than this. Way better. And I'd wager that, after yesterday, they're coming out pounding today. Not sure who the starter for the Chiefs is, but I guess it would have to be their number two, Bryan Edwards. The kid throws hard and has been pretty successful thus far. Still, it sometimes seems like he hasn't fully meshed into his starter role. He's definitely hittable. Ask me again next year, though, and that might not be the case.

Also: If the series does go to three games, it's unlikely that Tom Sheedy will be able to ride his ace to the states. Mike Mandarino pretty much willed himself through seven innings in a truly gritty performance. His pitch count was way up and talking to him yesterday, it didn't look like he'd be going anywhere near the mound this series. Massapequa has got a really solid number three in Drew Bergmann, but that's a whole lot to put on your third-best pitcher. I know it's unconventional and probably borderline abuse, but I wonder that Massapequa didn't save Mandarino a few innings. The game was a blowout and, if things get hairy in a possible Game 3, they could have counted on Mandy to come in and shut the door.

I'm off to Clarke/Division today, but I'm hoping I'll be able to stick around for a little bit of Game 2 of those perennial rivals, Massapequa/MacArthur.