DJ Filippone's play on high chopper clinches Suffolk Class AAA baseball title for Connetquot
Connentquot celebrates after defeating Sachem North in the Suffolk Class AAA baseball championship on Sunday at Middle Country Athletic Complex. Credit: Neil Miller
Players dream about moments like this. Ball in your hand, bases loaded, full count, two outs and your team is clinging to a one-run lead in the championship game.
Connetquot pitcher DJ Filippone found himself in that spot on Sunday afternoon, and he seized the moment.
Filippone, who entered Sunday 7-1 with a 2.33 ERA, fell behind 3-and-1 on Sachem North’s Travis Szober before throwing a gutsy slider for a strike.
The righthander then delivered an 83-mph fastball on the outer edge and Szober hit a high chopper toward second base. With the runners moving on the pitch and the speedy Szober flying down the line, a crowd that overflowed down the baselines and into the outfield was in full throat.
The 6-3 Filippone leaped from the mound and, in full extension, gloved the ball high in the air, momentarily bobbled it and made the perfect title-clinching throw to first baseman Michael Empaynado.
The athletic play sealed a 3-2 win over Sachem North as Connetquot captured the Suffolk Class AAA baseball championship before more than 1,200 fans at Middle Country Athletic Complex in Selden.
“The ball went up over my head,” Filippone said. “I needed to make an over-the-shoulder catch and secure the ball before making the throw.”
Filippone entered in relief of starter Justin Hendrickson with runners on first and second, one out in the seventh inning and Connetquot leading 3-1.
“I wanted to be out there for the last out,” Filippone said. “Justin pitched great. I needed to finish it. It’s moments like this that you dream about.”
After Dan DeMilt was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Filippone picked up a strikeout for the second out. Lucas Singleton then drew a walk that forced in a run and made the score 3-2, setting up the dramatic finish.
Connetquot (23-4) will meet Massapequa (18-8) in the Long Island Class AAA championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Farmingdale State.
Hendrickson allowed five hits in 6 1⁄3 innings, striking out seven and walking two.
“The coaching staff convinced me that Hendrickson was the right call to start, and they were right,” Connetquot coach Rob Burger said. “He kept them off balance and then settled in nicely.”
Sachem North (19-7) had runners on first and second with none out in each of the first two innings, and Jack Pitman’s two-out RBI single in the second produced a 1-0 lead.
“We had some scoring opportunities early,” coach Tom Gambino said. “But we didn’t hit enough.”
Connetquot answered with a run in the bottom of the second.
Joe Scarabino singled down the leftfield line and moved to second when Brandon Bartick walked with one out. Santino Capozzola blooped a single to rightfield to load the bases.
Aaron Pace, who had three hits and four RBIs in Saturday’s 7-0 win over Sachem North to avoid elimination, hit a grounder up the middle, and second baseman Pitman made a sliding stop and got the force at second. Scarabino scored to tie it at 1-1.
Andrew Amarando drew a leadoff walk in the third and moved to third on Empaynado’s single. Empaynado advanced to second on a delayed steal before Dylan Cerone delivered a two-run rocket single to leftfield for a 3-1 lead.
“I was hunting fastballs with second and third and no outs,” Cerone said. “But he threw me a slider two pitches in a row and I was all over it.”
Gambino removed starter Sam Morreale and brought in righty reliever Jacob Tonnies with Cerone on second and none out. Tonnies, who threw four scoreless innings, escaped the inning with no further damage to keep Sachem North within striking distance.
At that point, Hendrickson (4-0) also had settled in for Connetquot. At one point, he retired 12 consecutive batters.
Connetquot assistant coach Tommy Strazza, who has coached most of these players since they were in middle school, knew they were winners.
“They were something special,” he said. “You could see it when they were young.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
