Baseball Player Magazine

A groundout in the first inning decided who would represent Long Island in the New York State Class AA Championship Tournament later this week.

That routine 6-3 groundout off the bat of Ward Melville (20-5) junior Kyle Pedroli pushed Anthony Kay home in the bottom of the first inning. Kay reached on a bunt single, and was moved to third on a double by Greg Coman. That was all of the scoring that happened in the game, and that's all that the Patriots needed to claim the Long Island Championship over the Massapequa Chiefs (20-6). This was Ward Melville's first Suffolk County and first Long Island Championship.

Chris Cepeda allowed only three Massapequa hits, but hit three batters as well. Although he struck out only three batters, Cepeda had very few of his pitches struck solidly.

"(My) fastball was working really well today," said Cepeda. Besides the significant movement on his fastballs, "I felt like I had more velocity today. I felt really good today. I felt loose and ready to go."

Head Coach Lou Petrucci said he knew the team would perform well today based on the infield / outfield warmup they performed before the game. It was the best one they had all year, and foreshadowed their smooth and sharp team play.

"Chris Cepeda threw a gem," stated Petrucci. "He's a great pitcher. Nobody realizes how good he is. And now today, the whole Long Island baseball world knows (Cepeda) can deal."

In the sixth, the Chiefs mounted a rally, putting two runners on. But Cepeda wasn't nervous or phased.

"To be honest with you… I felt comfortable," added Cepeda. "I knew I had to get out of it. I knew I had to dig down for my team and get out of it for them."

Pictures of both teams from this event are available here.