Sollin Wins it Again in 7th; Beat New Hyde Park 5-4

In South Side's against New Hyde Park, the Cyclones scored six runs in their final at bat to beat the Gladiators, 7-6. On Monday, South Side did it again.

Tied at four in the top of the seventh, left fielder Thomas Kane (1-for-2, 2BB, 3 runs scored) worked a one-out walk against New Hyde Park starter Pat Meridian and then stole second base. Matt Sollin (2-for-4, 2RBIs), who had the walk-off, game-winning hit against New Hyde Park last Thursday, delivered once again with an RBI double down the right field line to score Kane and give South Side a 5-4 lead.

After two New Hyde Park batters reached base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Louis Matarazzo closed the door on the Gladiators, getting Andrew Pugliese to ground out to short to seal a 5-4 South Side victory at New Hyde Park.

Matarazzo came on in relief in the sixth and pitched two scoreless innings.

"Matarazzo went back out and finished it off," head coach Keith Lessuk said. "The first batter he faced in that inning, he started with three balls and then he worked all the way back for a huge strikeout to start the seventh."

New Hyde Park head coach Doug Robins said the game was well pitched by both teams, and it was Sollin's clutch hit that made the difference. "Both pitchers threw well,'" he said. "Timely hitting wins games, and they got one more timely hit than us."

The Cyclones (3-3) have now won three in a row, two via late-inning dramatics. Lessuk said the two comeback wins over New Hyde Park can do a lot to improve his team's psyche. "I think the late-inning dramatics helps prove to ourselves that we are always in the game and can score at anytime," he said. "It keeps our heads up and definitely helps improve our confidence."

Southpaw Christian Colletti (0-2) started for South Side and tossed five innings, giving up six hits, three earned runs (four total), three walks and eight strikeouts. Colletti threw 86 pitches over five innings, but fell victim to some poor defense. New Hyde Park's run in the first inning was unearned after an infield error, and a botched pick off play at first base with two outs in the third opened the door for New Hyde Park to score twice.

"Colletti did a nice job," Lessuk said. "He got up in pitch count again, but was pitching well. He was attacking the strike zone and a few of their batters did a nice job putting the ball in play."

South Side compiled seven hits against Meridian, who pitched a complete game but was saddled with the loss. Meridian tossed 111 pitches over seven innings with 10 strikeouts and four walks. 

The Cyclones got on the scoreboard first with an RBI double from James Howard (2-for-3, RBI, run scored) and an RBI single from Matarazzo (1-for-4) to put South Side up 2-0. After scoring one in the first, New Hyde Park took a 3-2 lead in the third off RBI singles from Rob Scatorchio (2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2 SB) and Joseph O'Callaghan.

Andrew Talbot (1-for-3, HR) connected on a solo homerum to tie the game at 3 in the top of the fourth, and Sollin added an RBI single in the fifth to give South Side a one-run lead. New Hyde Park tied the game at four in the bottom of the fifth, until Sollin broke the tie with his RBI double in the seventh.

BOX SCORE

WP — L. Matarazzo

LP — P. Meridian