THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Maritime Baseball season came to a close on Wednesday evening as the Privateers fell to the St. Joseph's (Bklyn) Bears by the score of 3-2 on the Reinhart Baseball Field.
 
Maritime was led by their top of the lineup as sophomore Chris Deddo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) and senior Paul Woodburn (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) both collected two hits on the game. Both players scored the lone two runs for the team, while Woodburn recorded a pair of RBIs.
 
On the hill, freshman A.J. Ammirati (Queens, N.Y./Construction) got the start and struck out one batter over the first four innings of work. Sophomore Tyler Stuart (Palm Coast, Fla./Matanzas) came on and held St. Joseph's (Bklyn) scoreless as he fanned nine batters, including five strikeouts looking, over his four innings of relief. Sophomore Anthony D'Ancona (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) closed out the game and did not allow a hit in the ninth inning.
 
The Bears struck first in the top of the first inning as St. Joseph's (Bklyn) strung together a pair of hits, followed by a fielder's choice, then a third hit to take the 1-0 lead off of Ammirati.
 
Deddo singled on a 1-0 pitch to start off the bottom of the first, followed by Woodburn singling to right field as Deddo moved up to third. The Privateers were unable to tie the game or take the lead as a double play ended the inning.
 
Both sides went down in the second and third innings before St. Joseph's (Bklyn) were back up to the plate in the top of the fourth. The first batter of the inning connected on a solo home run to make the score 2-0, then later in the inning the Bears drove another home run off the batter's eye in centerfield to take a 3-0 advantage.
 
The Privateer bats went down in order in the bottom of the fourth, as Stuart came on in the top of the fifth. Stuart struck out the first two batters of the inning, but the next two Bears reached. Stuart slammed the door on the St. Joseph's (Bklyn) threat with his third strikeout of the inning.
 
Maritime got another runner into scoring position as Monahan reached on an error and moved up to second with two outs in the inning, but the Privateers continued to struggle in search of the key hit to put the team on the board.
 
Stuart continued his dominant performance with a three-strikeout inning in the sixth, then again in the seventh as he struck out the first nine outs he recorded. In the bottom of the eighth the Bears collected a one out single and later got a walk in the inning to put a pair of runners on. Once again it was Stuart coming up big with a groundout to end the brief rally by St. Joseph's (Bklyn).
 
In the bottom of the eighth innings, Deddo got the inning going as he walked on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the frame. Up next was Woodburn, looking to continue his torrid pace against league opponents, who launched a two-run home run over the right centerfield fence to pull the Privateers back within one.
 
D'Ancona made quick work in the top of the ninth, with a little help from sophomore Aaron Schiavoni (Sag Harbor, N.Y./Pierson) recording the third out of the inning on a caught stealing at second base.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, the first two batters for Maritime struck out before freshman Anthony Vieto (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) hit a ball on the screws but lined right into the centerfielder's glove to end the ball game.
 
Maritime finished the season with a program-record 22 victories against 14 losses this season, and will return a strong contingent of this season's squad in 2017.
 
St. Joseph's (Bklyn) currently sits at 21-18, and will advance to the double-elimination portion of the Skyline Conference Championship beginning with a matchup against second-seeded Old Westbury at 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon at top-seeded Farmingdale.