Whalers Baseball Wins Elimination Game To Advance To County Championship

Dan Labrozzi took a bow after closing the curtain on Southold’s high school baseball season on Friday.

Pierson’s senior ace struck out nine and allowed just six hits in a complete-game 5-1 victory that sent the Whalers to the Suffolk County Class C Championship series against top-seeded Port Jefferson, which began on Monday in Port Jeff.

The Royals took game one of the best-of-three series, 4-2, so the Whalers looked to keep the series going Tuesday back at home. Results of that game occurred too late to appear in this week’s issue but can be found online at 27east.com. If Pierson forces a game three it will be played this Friday, May 27, at Port Jeff.

The Whalers, the tournament’s three seed, had lost to Southold, 14-6, in its first playoff game on May 18, but struck early in Friday’s game, which was an elimination game since both Pierson and Southold had both lost once in the double-elimination Class C postseason — the Settlers having lost, 5-2, at Port Jeff on Thursday, May 19.

Pierson’s Vinny Cavaniola and Christian Pantina led off the first inning with a pair of singles, and freshman Max Krotman earned a walk. All three came around to score on RBIs by Reed Kelsey and Gavin Gilbride, giving Labrozzi a three-run cushion before he even took the mound.

“When we start rolling, we’re like a locomotive train — it’s hard to stop us,” said Gilbride, Pierson’s catcher, who finished the game with three RBIs. “Everyone came and helped out today, one through nine, we were making good contact and putting the ball in play.”

Labrozzi worked in and out of trouble in the bottom of the third inning when a dribbler down the third base line off the bat of Southold’s Connor Wilinski caused him to stumble off the mound before crashing to the ground. After taking a few moments to gather himself, Labrozzi resumed pitching, only to see Jack Sepenoski reach base on an infield hit before Labrozzi intentionally walked his counterpart, Southold senior pitcher Brendan Duffy, to load the bases.

Wilinski scored on a sacrifice bunt by Tom Cardi, but moments later Cardi was caught stealing at second base on a great throw by Gilbride. Labrozzi struck out Luke Newman to get out of the inning with minimal damage.

“These are the games he wants to pitch,” Pierson head coach Jonathan Schwartz said about Labrozzi, who allowed just a single baserunner for the remainder of the game. “He just filled the zone all day and challenged their hitters. When you don’t walk people, you have a better chance of winning every time.”

Schwartz could not commit to a starter for game one against Port Jefferson on Monday, saying he would have to monitor Labrozzi’s recovery before deciding to go with him on two day’s rest.

“It would be nice, but it’s only two day’s rest,” Schwartz said. “We’ll have to see how he’s feeling and take it from there.”