Whalers Win And Force Decisive Championship Game

Gavin Gilbride let out a roar near home plate that might have been heard halfway down Main Street, even as the Pierson student body filled Mashashimuet Park with celebratory cheers during a raucous home playoff baseball game against Port Jefferson on Tuesday.

Pierson second baseman Brendan Burke charged into right field in the fifth inning of a one-run game with his team’s season on the line, scooped up a hard-hit groundball off the bat of Port Jefferson’s Abby Rolfe, the Royals’ female leftfielder, and fired to Gilbride at home to nail Ruairi Rago at the plate.

Two innings later, Pierson starter Dan Labrozzi forced three groundball outs of his own to close out a 2-1 victory in game two of a best-of-three-game series for the Suffolk County Class C Championship.

Port Jeff won game one, 4-2, on Monday and will host a decisive game three this Friday, May 27, at 4 p.m. Anyone who was at the park in Sag Harbor on Tuesday knows this is must-see baseball.

“We have to come prepared like we were today,” said Burke, who also was awarded an unorthodox double-play in the sixth inning when he was run over in the base path by Port Jeff’s Kyle Erikson while attempting to make a tag. “We knew this wasn’t going to be the last game, that they weren’t going to win at our home and at this park. We just have to keep a level head and get the job done.”

Keeping a level head was challenging for all sides on Tuesday. A pop fly off the bat of Pierson freshman Max Krotman in the first inning was ruled an out because of the infield fly rule, even though the ball landed in the grass in shallow right field. After a long deliberation between the umpires and both schools’ coaches and athletic directors, Labrozzi and Christian Pantina were allowed to advance to second and third base, respectively.

“When an umpire makes a call like that, it kind of throws everyone off,” Pierson head coach Jonathan Schwartz said later about the play. “Our guys didn’t know how to play it. It makes everything a little crazy when you have a protest in the first inning.”

After the long delay, and with two outs and two strikes, Pierson senior Reed Kelsey roped a line drive deep into left field that drove in two runs to put the Whalers on the board early.

“I was fighting, I had two strikes, I fouled a few off and I was just ready for whatever was coming,” Kelsey said.

“That was huge,” Schwartz added. “I knew at that time that that one hit was a chance to win the game. With Dan on the mound, you only need one or two runs and we have a shot to win it. It was a big play early in the game.”

Labrozzi cruised through the first three innings and had six strikeouts while allowing just a single hit. But an RBI double from Port Jeff’s Daniel Owens cut the lead in half in the fourth inning, setting the stage for the dramatic play at the plate in the fifth.

“Reed stopped the ball for me, and I knew Charlie [Culver] wasn’t going to get there because he was playing pretty deep,” Burke recalled about the game’s most critical defensive play. “So, I just picked up the ball and threw it the best I could.”

Port Jefferson’s coaching staff was issued a warning by the umpires in the bottom of the fifth inning, and a Royals fan was asked to leave the park in the bottom of the sixth after berating the home plate umpire over a disputed call. The Whalers, meanwhile, and their senior ace on the mound, stayed focused and escaped with a victory to extend their season at least another game.

“We know there’s going to be tension, especially with this team being as good as they are — they were our best competition all year,” Kelsey said afterward as the crowd at Mashashimuet Park erupted in celebration. “Especially on our side, we just have to keep a level head. We have to keep playing the game the right way, do our best and that will lead us to the success we’re looking for.”