Farmingdale, N.Y. – Farmingdale junior Tom Heeman (Valley Stream, N.Y.) pitched eight scoreless innings as the Rams defeated Mount Saint Mary College, 4-0, in the second round of the Skyline Conference Playoffs. The Blue Knights fall to 13-24 overall and will take on Mount Saint Vincent in the loser's bracket on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The Rams improve to 23-13 overall and will face St. Joseph's College in the winner's bracket final on Saturday at noon.
Heeman allowed just five hits in picking up his sixth victory of the season (6-2). Sophomore closer Billy Garofalo (Patchogue, N.Y.) pitched a perfect ninth to secure the win for Farmingdale State.
Sophomore Steve Campbell (Massapequa, N.Y.) led off the game with a single to right and was moved to second by a sacrifice bunt from senior Luis Feliciano (Bronx, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt. Campbell scored on a Mount Saint Mary error to give the Rams an early one run lead.
After the unearned run in the first, Mount Saint Mary junior Frank Snyder (Wallkill, N.Y.) held the Rams scoreless for the next six frames. Snyder induced fifteen groundball outs in seven and two-thirds innings pitched, limiting Farmingdale to just six hits. The Rams scored three insurance runs in the eighth without hitting the ball hard once. Two infield singles, a bloop single to center, a hit-batsman, and a walk eventually chased Snyder from the game, but he left to a standing ovation from the Mount fans in attendance.
The Blue Knights managed just five hits in the game and had only a handful of scoring chances. Perhaps their best chance came in the eighth as junior Brian Visconti (Newburgh, N.Y.) grounded a one-out single up the middle. The next batter, senior B.J. Masopust (Wallkill, N.Y.), launched a pitch that looked like it had a chance to get into the gap in right-center but a stiff wind held up the ball, making it an easy play for the center fielder. Visconti stole second to give senior Chris Schacca (Franklin Square, N.Y.) a chance to tie the game, but a check swing groundball stayed inside the first base line and Schacca was tagged easily for the third out of the inning.
St. Joseph's defeated Mount Saint Vincent, 5-2, in the second game of the evening to set up today's matchups.
