Tornadoes romp Amityville

by Ryan Ackerman

After going 2-3 in five games versus Sayville and Islip, Coach Sturm and the Tornadoes were eager to get back to work with a series against last-place Amityville.

A series with a perennial League VI bottom dweller in Amityville could bring some much needed momentum to this Harborfields squad’s playoff push.

Coach Sturm decided to send junior James Cameron to the hill for the start in the opener versus this Amityville squad. A 0-2 record with seven strikeouts in 12 innings in his career, Cameron took the hill for his first start of the 2017 campaign.

In three-innings of work Cameron showed off some of his best stuff, racking up six strikeouts while issuing only two hits and one walk. With a strong offense behind him, Cameron was pulled after only those three innings of work.

Harborfields was confident coming into the game per freshman Jack Greco, who also described the team’s offensive approach as “trying to sit back and drive the ball the other way to move runners over and get some runs across”.

The Tornado offensive approach worked to perfection, as they scored early and often.

In the first inning Harborfields was able to plate seven runs. After hits by Gavin Buda and Chris Dluginsky to start the game, Long, the Amityville starter, proceeded to walk the next three batters.

Two more hits, two more walks and an error by Willenbrock, the shortstop, allowed 12 men to come to the plate, resulting in those seven runs.

Fairly content with a 7-2 lead after three, Coach Sturm began to pull his starters. However, T.J. Broderick and Jack Greco did play out the remainder of the game.

The reserves for these Tornadoes did not let up on the Amityville pitching staff, as Harborfields added five more runs en-route to a 12-2 victory.

Not only did Coach Sturm receive stellar offensive contributions from his reserves, but a stellar contribution in relief from junior James Treanor.

Treanor kept the Warriors in check, allowing only three hits while recording five strikeouts in three innings of work.

Freshman Jack Greco followed Treanor out of the pen, striking out the side in his first career inning as a varsity pitcher. 

Harborfields will look to clinch the series over the Warriors when they travel to Amityville on Wednesday. The finale of this three-game set will be on Saturday as the series comes back to Harborfields.