THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Maritime baseball team held off Mount St. Mary in both ends of a Skyline Conference doubleheader at a chilly Reinhart Baseball Field on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Knights with back-to-back 9-8 scores.
 
Lighting the path for the Privateers was junior Stephen Semler (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington), who had a fantastic day for Maritime at the dish. The junior finished 6-for-9 on the day with two home runs, two doubles and 5 RBIs. Sophomore Matt Costleigh (West Islip, N.Y./St. Anthony's) had an excellent day at the plate as well, going 3-for-5 in game one and 2-for-4 in game two, driving in three runs. Junior Aaron Schiavoni (Sag Harbor, N.Y./Pierson) also had a day at the plate, matching his career-high with four hits in game one that included a home run and a double. Schiavoni also tacked on two hits and two RBIs in the second game.
 
Senior Brian McLaughlin (Massapequa, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) also performed well offensively in game two, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI and scored one run. Freshman Phil Russo (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) finished with five hits and one walk on the afternoon. Junior Chris Deddo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) reached base on six out of his nine plate appearances.
 
On the hill, junior Anthony D'Ancona (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) got the start in game one, tossing 8.0 innings with eight strikeouts and only allowing four hits and two walks against 31 batters faced. Freshman Skylar Graff (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) earned the save pitching the final two outs, striking out the final batter of the game on three straight pitches. Freshman Matthew Paghidas (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) earned the start in game two, pitching five innings that included four strikeouts. In relief, Brady Dolan (York, Pa./Northeastern) and Matthew Buckshaw (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) each threw an inning and combined for three strikeouts.
 
Game 1 
Mount St. Mary hopped off to an early lead in the top of the first inning as John Santana homered to centerfield, scoring two Knights. D'Ancona was able to shut things down quickly after that as he retired two straight batters. Just an inning later, Aaron Schiavoni (Sag Harbor, N.Y./Pierson) answered with his first home run of the season, taking a pitch opposite side and over the right field fence, cutting the deficit in half. Sophomore Joe Scerra (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) followed that up with his first career extra-base hit, doubling down the right field line.
 
Maritime put together a big inning in the third as Deddo started things off with a single up the middle, followed by a Semler blast over the left center fence. Maritime would continue their hot hitting with back-to-back-to-back singles from Schiavoni, Russo, and Scerra, but were unable to push any more runs across, leaving the bases loaded.
 
After D'Ancona hit a batter to start the top of the 4^th, the local product retired three straight batters with two strikeouts and a pop out. Maritime would have at it again in the bottom of the 4th, starting things off with a junior Connor Alwan (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) double to left centerfield. Costleigh followed that up with a single to right center to score Alwan, but was called out at second base on the advancement attempt. Following a Deddo walk, the Privateer hits kept pouring in as Semler singled to left field before a pitching change was needed for the Knights. After McLaughlin reached on a fielders a choice, two straight wild pitches scored Semler as Schiavoni then stepped up to the plate to single home McLaughlin. Russo added a single of his own, but a Scerra line-out ended the inning with the Privateers holding a 6-2 lead.
 
Back out on the mound, D'Ancona would then go on to retire the side for three straight innings.
 
Maritime came up with another big inning in the bottom of the 7th as Scerra started things with a walk and stole two straight bases, but the stolen bases didn't matter as Connor Alwan (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) blasted his first career home run over the left field fence. Costleigh added a double to center field, but that was all the Privateers were able to plate by the end of the 7th, holding on to an 8-2 lead.
 
The home runs kept coming but this time it was from the visiting team as John Santana hit his second of the day for the Knights, but the Privateers still had the edge, 8-4.
 
Semler answered, going yard for the second time in game one with a solo shot over the left field fence.
 
Freshman Luciano Besh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Franklin Regional) replaced D'Ancona on the mound for the Privateers, and with a 9-4 Maritime lead, the Knights were not finished on the offensive end as two straight walks put a runner in scoring position for Mount St. Mary. When sophomore Alex Poliwoda (Southold, N.Y./Southold) came in to pitch for Besh, two straight doubles lit the fire for the knights, closing the gap, trailing 9-7. Poliwoda was able to sit down Matthew Kozireski with a looking strikeout, but a walk brought in Graff to pitch. Peter Knights of Mount St. Mary grounded out to second base but was able to score a runner to make the score 9-8, but the threat ended as Graff fanned Santana in three straight pitches to end the game.
 
The Privateers concluded game one with 18 hits against Mount St. Mary's six, while neither team finished with an error.
 
Game 2
Mount St. Mary's got things started quickly in the top of the first once again with two singles on the first two pitches of the game. Two straight walks plated the first run of the game followed by a groundout that scored a Knight as Mount St. Mary entered the bottom of the first with a quick 2-0 lead.
 
It didn't take long for the Privateers to fire back as Costleigh singled to center field deep in the count before Deddo poked the ball through to right, as Semler stepped up to the plate and hit a long double to the back corner of center field to score both Costleigh and Deddo.
 
Mount St. Mary would go on to score three straight runs as Maritime would not score a run again until the bottom of the third when Deddo once again started things with a walk. Semler and McLaughlin strung together two straight singles, eventually scoring Deddo, but the Privateers still trailed 8-3.
 
After a scoreless 4th inning for both teams, Maritime had another huge inning in the bottom of the 5th, batting around the lineup. Semler hit another long double to center field to open up the inning, as McLaughlin and Schiavoni hit two singles which would then score Semler. The Knights changed pitchers, but Russo walked to load the bases before a second pitching change within the inning was needed. A wild pitch would score McLaughlin to tie the game up at 5. Costleigh continued his hot streak for the day, singling to right center to score Russo and Schiavoni. The big four-run inning ended as Semler hit a ground ball to the Knights third baseman who was able to step on the closest base for the force out.
 
McLaughlin ripped the ball to left field for a double and was replaced on the base paths by Antonio Diaz (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) who scored on a Schiavoni single, taking the Privateers to an 8-5 lead. Schiavoni was then plated with another Russo base hit, when the Privateers ended the inning, continuing to lead 9-5.
 
Mount St. Mary once again threatened late in the game, scoring two runs late in the top of the 7th inning to close the score up, 9-8 and had a runner on second base from a Mount St. Mary double, but sophomore Matthew Buckshaw (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) shut the door with a huge swinging strikeout to conclude the doubleheader.
 
Despite Maritime's three errors in game two, the offense compensated, scoring nine runs on 14 hits. Today's doubleheader marks the first game since April 15th of last season where the Privateers had at least 10 hits on both ends of a doubleheader.
 
With the sweep, Maritime is now over .500 on the season with a 7-6 overall record and 2-0 in Skyline conference play. Mount St. Mary drops to 2-12 overall and 0-2 in Skyline play.
 
Maritime returns to action tomorrow as the team travels to Old Westbury, N.Y. and will meet the Panthers at the Jackie Robinson Complex. First pitch is set for 12:00 P.M. Mount St. Mary will also play tomorrow at Farmingdale for a Skyline Conference doubleheader.