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Suffolk edges out Nassau in Baseball All-Star Game
Deer Park's Bo Budkevics started the game for Suffolk, allowing just one run and one hit in the annual All-Star event. Surprisingly, that was the only run they allowed in the 12-1 victory on June 9. "In this game we had the best pitchers in Suffolk County and we showed that against the best kids in Nassau," Budkevics said. "I let up the first run but what can you do. After that [the team] picked me up and there was no turning back from there." "Two hits all night long against a team like that is awesome," Suffolk and Eastport-South Manor head coach Bob Salamone said. This was Salamone's last game as a head coach. He's retiring in June from teaching and coaching and said, "If I couldn't win a state championship on my way out, then my last game would be a loss, but not now." Nassau opened the game with a run when Island Trees' Joe Vaskas hit an RBI single up the middle, but Suffolk batted through its entire order in the bottom of that inning. Ward Melville's A.J. Nunziato, who was later awarded the game MVP award, hit a single, stole a base and scored when Budkevics hit a two-run single four batters later. West Islip's Rob Faulkner got into some hot water on the mound in the top of the third after allowing a hit and two walks, but he struck out Vaskas and got St. Dominic's T.J. Thomas to pop out to end the inning. Plainedge's Graig Lauricella hit a single in the top of the third, but that was all she wrote. Suffolk pitcher's Dan Burawa (Rocky Point), Eric Stampfl(St. John the Baptist), Tom Kahl (Bay Shore), Colin Barnathan (St. Anthony's), Dan Belding (Sachem), John Mincone (Hills East) and Gregg Smith (Eastport-South Manor) all pitched perfect innings with no walks. "They were all dominant," Nunziato said. "They were mixing their pitches up well and leading with fastballs. They had good fielding and were getting grounders and fly balls." Suffolk added another six runs in the bottom of the third. Mincone, this year's Gibson Award winner as the best pitcher in Suffolk, hit an RBI double over the centerfielder's head. Nunziato hit an RBI triple to the same spot as Mincone and Whitman's Nick Thode hit a monstrous blast over the left-centerfield wall. Harborfields' Mario Piscitelli hit a two-run double to leftfield in the bottom of the seventh for Suffolk's final two runs. Nunziato was a homerun away from the cycle and finished the night 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a stolen base. "He's a solid player," Salamone said. "He's a complete package with the way he runs the bases, plays shortstop and he's got the arm." "I had a good game," said Nunziato, who also won the Carl Yastrzemski Award this season as the best overall player in Suffolk. "It doesn't happen all the time. I hit the ball solidly and it was an all around good game." This was the last high school game for every player on the field and in Salamone's case, one of the coaches. Most will attest to this being a very special moment, even if one team had to lose. "Playing on this field is a once in a life time opportunity," Nunziato said. "It's great playing in front of all these people with some of the best players on the Island. It's kind of upsetting it's my last high school game, but we're starting new steps in our lives now." "It's an unbelievable feeling and an unbelievable experience and it doesn't get any better than this," Budkevics said. NOTES AND QUOTES: +This is the third time Suffolk won the event in as many years.
+Bob Salamone, on what he would do differently with the game: "It was a lot of fun. The hardest part was shuffling everybody in and making sure they got a fair shot [to play]. If I had to make a recommendation, I'd say just bat 1-20 and keep shuffling the kids in on defense to make it easier."
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