Brosnan, Coppola, Farmingdale outlast Plainview JFK

The wind was really swirling and pitchers Alex Brosnan and Kevin Bonanni were really sterling. So appropriately, yesterday's Farmingdale-Plainview JFK game turned on a strikeout. Could it have been any other way?

Farmingdale broke up an extra-inning pitcher's duel by scoring four ninth-inning runs after a strikeout on a ball in the dirt was mishandled with two outs and two on. That allowed one run to score to break a tie at 1 and Greg Coppola's two-run single later in the inning broke it open as the Dalers outlasted the host Hawks, 5-1, in a Nassau AA-II baseball game.

"I'll take it," said coach Frank Tassielli of Farmingdale, which improved to 5-3 in league. "With those two guys on the mound, we knew it would be that kind of game."

It was the kind of game in which runs were scarce but whiffs were plentiful. Neither starter was around for the finish but both allowed just three hits and dazzled in contrasting fashion. Plainview's Bonanni was especially dominant. The senior righthander struck out a career-high 16 in eight innings and did not walk a batter. During one stretch, the Manhattan-bound Bonanni struck out nine straight. "This is as good as I've ever felt," he said of his 96-pitch effort that featured an upper-80s fastball and a darting slider. "I felt they couldn't hit me."

Brosnan struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings, settling down after a shaky start to hold the Hawks scoreless for 5 2/3 innings. In fact, Plainview (6-2) did not get a hit after the second inning. Brosnan needed some defensive help from centerfielder Brandon Veracka. He threw a runner out at home in the first, made a tumbling catch on Ben Strack's drive to right-center with a man on in the fourth, then raced to the fence in centerfield, 380 feet away, to snare Gil Doremus' bid for a solo home run.

"My defense was great and my confidence grew as the game went on," Brosnan said. "I was using my curve early in the count to get ahead."

Brosnan finally tired in the eighth, allowing a walk and hitting two with two outs. That's when Tassielli removed the side-arming righthander after 115 pitches. "I know I'm tired when I hit people and I'm up in the strike zone," Brosnan said.

SEE PHOTOSFarmingdale 5, Plainview JFK 1

Bonanni had no problem leaving tied at 1 after eight. "Coach asked me about coming out for the eighth and I said, 'they're not hitting me.' " Bonanni said. "Then he told me 'Good job. We'll finish it.' "

"He's got a future. I'm not risking it in this weather," Plainview coach Justin Szwejkowski said. "Maybe if it was a playoff game and it was in the 70s.

"It just hurts that it was a strikeout that did it to us."