2018 Garden City Mets Capture 35+ AA League Championship in Long Island MSBL
Long Island MSBL, 35+ AA Division
Garden City Mets 7, NY Grizzlies 3
‘Harrington and Harrington Star on the Bump’
Submitted by John Sorensen, Mets Manager
‘Baby Come Back’ was a 1970’s pop song from the rock group, Player. The title also serves as the theme for the 2018 Garden City Men’s baseball team’s epic playoff run. In winning three best-of-three playoff series, all six victories found the team losing at one point in each game
After a 10-5 regular season record the Garden City Mets, now in their 30th year as a team, were seeded fourth in the league playoffs. In order to advance to the championship the team had to win three playoff rounds.
The first playoff game against the L.I. Privateers was a 13-4 rain shortened win highlighted by Greg Rooney’s bottom of the first grand slam and six RBI’s. Brian Harrington got the W, allowing two hits with five strikeouts over five innings.
Game two of the series proved to be a preview of the rest of the playoffs, where pitching, defense and small ball would play a key role in securing a victory. John Mierzejewski took the mound and held the opposition to two hits and three unearned runs before handing the ball to six game winner Mike Harrington. Mike promptly shut the door on a sixth inning rally, and the team was down by 3-2 entering the seventh. Singles by Rooney and Roger Tusiani-Eng, and a long sacrifice fly from Cesar Cabral, provided GC with a 4-3 lead. That lead was held in check by Harrington and the team’s first round sweep led to a match-up against the first place, 12-3 Athletics.
Brian Harrington had the start for game one and pitched one of the best games of the season. Down 3-0 in the fourth, GC came back strong in the fifth with four runs, adding an insurance run in the eighth for a 5-3 victory. Talented rookie Brian Schnabel was the game’s offensive catalyst with two hits, a stolen base and two runs scored. As for Harrington, he threw a complete game three hitter with seven strikeouts and pitched more than half the game with a broken arm. He broke it in the fourth inning by sliding awkwardly into second base on a steal attempt. He came up holding his left shoulder but insisted on staying in to pitch but that appeared to be the end of the playoffs for him.
Now looking for the second round sweep, Brian’s brother Mike came up big with his eighth win of the season. With
GC down 5-2 in the seventh, Cesar Cabral cranked a two-run home run. Another run in the eighth tied the game at five going into extra innings. John Sorensen led off the 10th with a single to left, as a clutch Justin Blot sac bunt and two two-out walks loaded the bases. Harrington worked the count in his favor and drew a rare walk-off walk in a 6-5 win. The sweep was complete thanks to Mike’s gutty 10 inning complete game gem. Keith Friedman starred on defense at third and was a key with seven assists.
The finals saw GC playing the second place NY Grizzlies, a team who had beaten GC for the championship in 2011. Short-handed in the first game, GC was dominated in a double-digit loss. Game two was the next night and things did not look good as the Grizzles promptly plated two runs heading into the third. The Mets were now six innings away from getting swept, but the never quit group bounced back with seven runs over the next two innings, led by Ryan Saraco’s clutch four-hit game and a key walk to Jim Burns which set up a five run fifth. Once again, Mike Harrington pitched the last five in relief to hold off the opposition in a tight 7-6 victory.
With the series tied at one game apiece, Brian Harrington, who’s arm was in a sling for two weeks, showed up in uniform and advised us that he was cleared by his doctor for pitching only. The decision was made to let Brian start. Because Brian could not raise his left arm above his shoulder, catcher Cabral did an amazing job at throwing each pitch back below shoulder height. Brian threw four shutout innings to start in a very gutsy performance. However, the Grizzlies battled back in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead. Brother Mike was called upon once again and stopped the fifth inning rally with three quick outs. However, that lead did not last for long.
Mike Salata, riding a seven-game hitting streak, keyed a two-run inning with an RBI rope and the game was now tied at three going into the bottom of the eighth. With runners on first and second and no outs, a Grizzlies single to left brought the potential go ahead run around third and heading home. Left fielder Saraco fired a strike to catcher Cabral, who put the tag on the runner at the plate. That proved to be a pivotal play in the game, as was the ensuing play to second baseman Tusiani-Eng. With a runner on third, Roger fielded a ground ball to his right and quickly fired home to Cabral, getting another potential go-ahead run on a tag play at the plate. The tie was preserved with two stellar defensive plays and the score remained all tied at 3-3 after nine tense innings. In the top of the 10th the Mets scored four runs on a sac fly by Mike Harrington and key hits by Mierzejewski and Rooney. Mike sealed his 10th win as GC closed it out in the bottom of the 10th. The sixth come from behind victory was complete.