| Nick Sarna threw the 24th
perfect game in D-III history and the first since Derek Slagle in
2013. SUNY-Maritime photo by Damon Reid |
BRONX, N.Y. (March 11, 2014) – It was a historic nights at Taft High School in the Bronx as senior right-handed pitcher Nick Sarna (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's) became the first Maritime pitcher in modern team history (2005-14) to throw a perfect game as he held the Yeshiva Maccabees without a base runner through seven innings of work as the Privateers defeated Yeshiva by a 13-0 score to open league play on Tuesday evening.
The perfect game was the best pitching performance statistically
by a Maritime hurler since the 2010 season
when Christopher Myers one-hit Yeshiva at Taft
High School. In that game, Myers allowed just two base runners on
a hit batsman and a single as he went the complete game while
striking out seven Maccabees in a 6-0 win.
In addition to the strong pitching performance by Sarna, junior
Joe Longo (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./St. John the
Baptist) collected six RBIs on the evening on a single and a
triple as he tied a modern single-game record for runs driven in.
The six RBIs were the most by a Privateer since then-junior
Nick Galli (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By the Sea)
picked up six against NYU-Poly on April 26 of last season.
The Privateers as a team also combined for 12 stolen bases on the
night including three from senior Tom Bauer (Wantagh,
N.Y./MacArthur), two each from Galli, Matthew Sollin
(Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) and Pat Kirk
(Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep), while Paul Woodburn
(Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown), Jerry Frasier (Jackson,
N.J./M.A.T.E.S.), and D.J. Seymour (Nassau,
Bahamas/Rabun Gap-Nacoochee (Ga.)) also swiped bags in the
victory.
For the game, Sarna started by striking out two of the first three
batters he faced in the bottom of the first inning. He struck out a
third Maccabee in the second inning, while also getting a pair of
groundouts. Sarna then forced a groundout and enticed a pair of pop
ups to get through Yeshiva's lineup unscathed for the first time on
the night.
The second time around the order went just as smooth for Sarna,
who picked up a few fly balls to Galli in rightfield and struck out
his fourth batter of the game in the fourth frame. After getting a
fly out to start the fifth inning, Davi Brick of Yeshiva tried to
bunt for a base hit but was unsuccessful ahead of a fly out to end
the fifth. Sarna collected two more groundouts and struck out his
fifth and final Maccabee of the game as he set the first 18 batters
down in order.
The top of the order was up in the last-chance inning for Yeshiva,
as Maritime had already taken a 10-run lead in the top of the
inning to invoke the 'mercy' rule. Sarna got the first batter to
line out to right field, followed by a groundout to second base. A
ball did hit the outfield grass as the final batter was up, but
Galli threw out Jake Frankel from right field to end the ball game
and seal the perfecto for his classmate.
As for the offensive fireworks, Galli led off the top of the first
with a walk and over the course of the inning stole second and
third, but the rest of the offense was unable to bring him across
the plate.
The bottom of the second saw Maritime plate what proved to be the
deciding run of the game as Bauer reached on a throwing error that
allowed Sollin to score after getting plunked earlier in the
inning, before stealing second base.
In the top of the fourth, the Privateers sent nine batters to the
plate and brought home four more runs as Sollin collected an RBI
with a sacrifice fly, and Bauer bringing across the team's third
run of the game. The big blow of the inning came off the bat of
Longo with a two-run single through the left side of the infield to
put Maritime ahead by a 5-0 score.
Longo drove in the game's next run on a groundout in the top of
the sixth inning, followed by freshman Brian McLaughlin
(Massapequa, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) singling home the
team's seventh run.
In the top of the seventh inning, Maritime plated six more runs in
a rally that was started by Frasier, who singled then stole second.
Sollin followed with a walk, to bring up Bauer, who struck an
infield single to load the bases.
Kirk was up next and singled home Frasier as the trio of base
runners moved up 90-feet apiece. A pitch then plunked Galli, as the
team's ninth run crossed the plate to bring up Longo with the bases
loaded. The junior delivered with a triple to right center to clear
the bases and give Maritime a dozen runs on the evening. McLaughlin
brought home Longo with a sacrifice fly to cap off the scoring at
13.
Earning his first win of the season was Sarna (1-0) as he did not
allow a hit, walk, or run while striking out five Yeshiva batters.
Taking the loss was Zachary Feld (0-2) after allowing the first
five Maritime runs on two hits and five walks over 4 2/3 innings.
Elan Paul and Zevi Weisinger pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, while
allowing the final eight Privateer runs to score on a combined six
hits and two walks.
Maritime (2-7, 1-0 Skyline) will take the next few days to recover
from five games in the last three days before traveling to Staten
Island on Sunday afternoon for a doubleheader against the College
of Staten Island with first pitch slated for 12 p.m.
Yeshiva (0-4, 0-1 Skyline) will look to regroup after its lopsided
loss with a pair of games against Old Westbury on Friday morning at
10 a.m. with the games taking place at Farmingdale.