Abbate's pitching has Division on a roll

If momentum really is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher, then Division has it in spades . . . er . . . aces.

The Blue Dragons haven't allowed more than two runs in any game this postseason, and Sean Abbate, the big-game pitcher on a staff of big-game pitchers, is as much a reason for that as anyone.

The senior righthander pitched a four-hitter, with five strikeouts as No. 7 Division (19-6) defeated crosstown rival Island Trees, 5-1, in Game 1 of the Nassau Class A final yesterday at Farmingdale State.

Abbate has now recorded wins in four of Division's six postseason games, including a five-hit complete game to eliminate No. 1 Plainedge.

He improved to 9-0, with those playoff victories coming against the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6 seeds. Game 2 will be played Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Farmingdale State.

"He's been pitching great all year," coach Tom Tuttle said. "He's given up no more than two earned runs [in one game] all season. He's one of the best pitchers in Nassau County."

Even so, the Bulldog (21-6) managed to get on the board in the second after Mike Manganiello reached on an infield error. Abbate retired the next two before Mike Witteck's run-scoring triple to left gave Island Trees a 1-0 advantage.

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Abbate, whose pitching consists of a steady diet of fastballs and curveballs, said that while he could throw his off-speed pitches for strikes, he had trouble spotting his fastball early on. Once his nerves settled, "I just kept trying to throw strikes," he said. "I know Island Trees is very good."

With Division's 1-through-5 struggling to produce (they went a combined 2-for-14), much of the heavy lifting was done by the bottom third of the order: Mike Roestenberg, Tom Wiebke and Johnny Muller.

Wiebke led off the third with a ground-rule double and came around to score on Muller's sharp double to left. A batter later, Lenny Martinez hit a grounder through the left side of the infield to give Division the 2-1 lead. The Blue Dragons would score three more times in the fourth, led by RBI singles from Roestenberg and Wiebke.

"The key was to be aggressive," Wiebke said. "In the [early innings] we were hitting balls right at people . . . eventually those are going to fall in."

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Division has earned the easy confidence, despite finishing second in Conference A-II. Three of the team's losses came by one run and the consensus among the Blue Dragons is that they're simply playing up to potential.

"We've played good teams, we've lost close games and we had our ace on the mound," Roestenberg said. "We're confident."

With momentum like that, how can you blame them?