Lindy Baseball Players Win Labor Day Tourney

The Suffolk Hurricanes, also known as the Suffolk Canes, won the NYTB Labor Day Wood Bat Baseball tournament held at Fort Tilden Park in Queens.

The team - which is made up of players from Lindenhurst and North Babylon - went 4-1 in the tournament, outscoring their opponents by a margin of 38-15.

The final game was a walk-off, 10-0 win, over the Valley Stream Hawks.

General Manager Ray Cuciniello and President Carmine Caraturo were instrumental in forming the players together. The coaching staff consists of Manager Bob Pacheco, First Base Coach Craig Gutman and Bench Coach Jimmy Gray, along with Caraturo and Cuciniello.

This tournament was the first one played by the Canes, and it was a very successful beginning.

The NYTB Labor Day Wood Bat Tournament consisted of six teams from Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk.

The round robin play had the Canes defeating the team from “Joe Torre Baseball” 10-0 in their first game. Michael Laino pitched a one-hitter, and went all the way for the win.

The second game was won by the Canes over the Valley Stream Hawks by a score of 3-1. Joe Barbuto pitched five innings of solid baseball, and hit a home run in the second inning. Chris Cuciniello pitched the final two innings for the save.

The third game was won by the Canes by the score of 14-6 over the Spring Creek All-Stars - a total team effort by the Hurricanes.

The fourth game was a 6-1 loss to the Brooklyn Bulldogs.

The record for the Canes after the round robin section was 3-1. This gave them the number-one seed and home team advantage in the final game against the Valley Stream Hawks.

In the finals Barbuto again was the pitching star of the game. He pitched five innings of shut-out baseball, and hit a first-inning home run to put the Canes’ on top for good.

The next games for the Hurricanes will be the Columbus Day Wood Bat Tournament, October 5 to 8; the EBL Wood Bat tournament on October 12 in Riverhead; and the Halloween Havoc Tournament, October 26 to 28 at Baseball Heaven.

Photos and information submitted by Bob Pacheco.