Andrew Noe's single gives Kellenberg walk-off win over Chaminade in NSCHSAA championship series
Kellenberg mobs Andrew Noe (middle right on his back) after Noe's single drove in the winning run during Game 3 of the best-of-three CHSAA baseball finals against Chaminade at Hofstra on Tuesday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Andrew Noe said there was no doubt in his mind that he’d deliver in the biggest spot of his high school baseball career.
And that he did.
The sophomore nicknamed Sprout delivered Kellenberg’s first title since 2017 when he singled with the bases loaded to score Ryan Langner and give the Firebirds a 3-2 walk-off win over Chaminade in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was the third game of the best of three series in the Nassau-Suffolk Catholic High School Athletic Association final at Hofstra University in Hempstead.
“I was looking for a fastball,” said Noe, who was named the championship game MVP. “I knew I would get a hit. I’m a confident player. I get that confidence from my family and the support all around me.”
It was Kellenberg’s first title in coach Pat Miles' five years at the helm.
“We’d been to the finals for three of my five years and Chaminade beat us twice,” he said. “This one feels really good for our staff.”
Chaminade opened a 2-0 lead with a run in each of the first two innings. Leadoff hitter Collin Anderson lined a single down the leftfield line, stole second and went to third on a pickoff throw that sailed into centerfield. Colin Cashin grounded to shortstop to score Anderson for the 1-0 lead.
The Flyers added to the lead in the second inning. The nine-hitter in the order, Danny Nawrocki, drilled a line drive into leftfield to start the inning. He stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored when Cashin singled up the middle for the 2-0 lead.
“I was overthrowing in the first two innings and then I found my groove,” said Kellenberg starter Chris Parisi. “And our defense made some big plays.”
Kellenberg answered in the bottom of the third inning. Carson Fessler led off with a triple to rightfield and Noe lined a shot up the middle that eluded a diving Anderson for an RBI single to make it 2-1. Leadoff hitter Marco Coscia followed with a double to rightfield. Noe dove across the plate just before the relay throw from the outfield to tie the score at 2.
Chaminade starter Kenny Meliere, a Stonehill commit, retired the next three batters to strand Coscia, the go-ahead run at third.
Parisi would grind his way through seven innings, allowing four hits and seven walks with two strikeouts. He would get all-star help from the Firebirds defense which shut down Chaminade with big plays in each of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
In the third, Kellenberg rightfielder Lucas Vanvaketis caught a one-out line drive and made a perfect throw to first for the inning ending double play. In the fourth, shortstop Richie Lavacca grabbed a one-out, one-hopper up the middle and turned the 6-6-3 double play to end the inning.
“We practice defense all the time,” Miles said. “It was well worth it.”
In the fifth, centerfielder Carson Fessler made a running catch in the gap with one out and fired to first for another inning-ending double play.
In the sixth, with one out and runners on first and second, Kellenberg catcher Michael Cotto picked the runner off second for the second out and Parisi got a strikeout to end the threat.
“We left the bases loaded in what could have been a game-changing inning,” Chaminade coach Pat Kemp. “And we ran ourselves out of a few innings.”
Noe celebrated with the Firebirds afterward and soaked in the moment.
“I’ve always been the little guy my whole life,” Noe said. “I like it. I’ve always been Sprout.”
Now the little guy named Sprout is the biggest guy in the program.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
