THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Maritime baseball team clinched the two seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championship, as the Privateers notched a pair of wins over the Yeshiva Maccebees by the scores of 13-0 and 18-4. The win capped off a program-best 15-3 conference record, which gave Maritime a first round bye and automatic entry into the double elimination portion of the championship tournament.
 
With the pair of wins Maritime sets the program record for wins in a season with 23, after the last year's team set the recent standard with 22. The team also had the highest winning percentage (.676) of any team in recorded program history since the 1952 season, when the Privateers went 7-3 that season for a .700 winning percentage in just the eighth year of the athletics program at the college.
 
The Privateers had another balanced effort both on the mound and at the plate in the Monday afternoon doubleheader on Reinhart Field. On offense Maritime had 13 players record RBIs, while the team had nine extra-base hits on the afternoon.
 
Leading the way was senior Brian McLaughlin (Massapequa, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) who had two doubles and one home run for a team-high seven runs scored and five RBIs. Classmate Joe DiLeo (Naples, Fla./St. John Neumann) cranked his first career home run over the left field fence and was tied with junior Stephen Semler (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) with four RBIs and three runs scored on the afternoon.
 
Juniors Chris Deddo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) and Connor Alwan (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) had two RBIs apiece, while Deddo scored five runs on the day. Freshmen Phil Russo (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) and Joe Cordero (Franklin Square, N.Y./Kellenberg) also had two RBIs each with Cordero finishing the day 2-for-2 at the plate. Also picking up RBIs on the day were senior Chris Stewart (Bethpage, N.Y./Chaminade), junior Zach Parilla (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River), sophomore John Verwoert (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet), and freshmen Antonio Diaz (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport), Tommy Buckman (McLean, Va./McLean), and Dan Sinisi (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling).
 
Diaz was a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts, while Deddo went 3-for-3 in his stolen base chances. Alwan and DiLeo each swiped two bags apiece, while McLaughlin and sophomore Joe Scerra (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) each had one stolen base on the afternoon.
 
On the hill junior Anthony D'Ancona (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) went the distance in the opener and tossed seven shutout innings against the Maccabees in the opener and allowed three hits and struck out seven batters.
 
Freshman Brady Dolan (York, Pa./Northeastern) got the start in the second game and went the first three innings and allowed just one hit while striking out five batters. Junior Peter Maes (Brielle, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) made his season debut and struck out one batter, while freshman Robert Malzacher (Chester, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) was up next and tossed one inning with two strikeouts. Freshman Skylar Graff (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) recorded the next five outs for the Privateers before sophomore Alex Poliwoda (Southold, N.Y./Southold) put a ribbon on the regular season with a scoreless seventh inning.
 
Several career, single-season and individual records were set on the day for the Privateers. McLaughlin collected the all-time hits record and now stands alone at the top with 148 career hits, he also broke the single-season record with his 55th hit of his senior season. McLaughlin also regained the career home run record (13), set the career record for doubles (30), and single-season record for doubles (14). Deddo set the career record for runs scored at 97, and also set the single-season runs scored record at 41.
 
Also reaching several milestones was D'Ancona as he registered the 10th win of his career and also picked up his 100th career strikeout amongst his seven on the afternoon.
 
Game 1
D'Ancona got the game started by retiring the first 11 batters he faced on the afternoon and allowed a two out single in the top of the fourth. He returned to form and retired the side in order in the fifth, but allowed a pair of two-out singles in the sixth. D'Ancona then pitched a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, including two strikeouts to seal his fourth win of the season.
 
Offensively Maritime scratched across one run in the first as McLaughlin doubled, moved up to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch to give the Privateers a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third the team added four more runs as McLaughlin, Deddo, Semler and Stewart all recorded RBIs.
 
In the bottom of the fourth Maritime added three more runs as Semler and Alwan drove in runs, while an error allowed a third Privateer run to score in the frame. Maritime added four more in the fifth as McLaughlin launched a two-run home run, and Russo picked up a two-run double to increase the Maritime lead to 12-0.
 
Maritime capped off the scoring as Stewart doubled and moved up to third on a Diaz groundout. DiLeo picked up the sacrifice fly as Stewart scored to give the Privateers a 13-0 victory.
 
Game 2
Dolan followed D'Ancona's game plan and did now allow a hit until the ninth batter reached on a two out single in the top of the third before exiting the game. Maes came on and registered his first career strikeout before being lifted for Malzacher got the next two outs in the top of the fourth.
 
Malzacher got the first out in the fifth but Graff was needed to extinguish the final two batters of the inning. In the sixth, Graff allowed three runs but got out of the inning to send the game to the seventh.
 
In the top of the seventh, Poliwoda got the first batter on a fly ball before the next batter singled. The right-hander struck out the next batter, before retiring the final out on a ground ball to give the Privateers the win.
 
Offensively the team scored five runs in the first inning as Semler opened up the scoring with a two-run single. Alwan added an RBI base knock, as did DiLeo. Diaz also scored in the inning on a throwing error by the catcher after Diaz had stolen third base. Deddo manufactured a single run in the second inning with a leadoff double before stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch to put the Privateers up 6-0.
 
Three more runs scored in the third inning as McLaughlin picked up another RBI on a single, before Deddo collected an RBI on a groundout. Verwoert drove in a run on an infield single to increase the Privateer lead to nine.
 
With a 9-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth Maritime got a pair of runs back as McLaughlin walked to lead off the inning before Cordero doubled to the left centerfield gap to chase McLaughlin all the way home. Several batters later, Diaz walked with the bases loaded to force home Cordero to give Maritime a 10-run lead.
 
Maritime capped off the offensive outburst with a seven-run sixth inning, punctuated by DiLeo's first career home run over the left field fence in his final home game on Reinhart Field. Buckman dunked a ball into centerfield for an RBI, followed by a bases-loaded walk by Sinisi. Parilla singled to notch an RBI, before DiLeo walked with the bases loaded for his second RBI of the inning. McLaughlin added another RBI to his ledger with a single, before Cordero walked with the bases loaded to score the final Privateer run of the afternoon.
 
Up Next
Maritime (23-11, 15-3 Skyline) will await their next opponent, the winner of Wednesday's Farmingdale-Merchant Marine matchup. The Privateers will take on either the Rams or the Mariners at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon from Gregg Alfano Field in Patchogue, N.Y., the site of this season's Skyline Conference Championship.
 
Yeshiva (2-21, 0-18 Skyline) will cap off its season with a road doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon as the team will travel to take on the Staten Island Dolphins beginning at 4 p.m. from the CSI Baseball Complex.