Calhoun tops MacArthur's Vanderka, leads AA finals 1-0

Calhoun started the league portion of its regular season against MacArthur, and almost immediately, Frankie Vanderka was a thorn in the Colts' side.

Vanderka struck out 13 during an April 6 game, knocking in the winning run in the eighth inning. His two-run homer the following day tied the score during MacArthur's comeback victory.

If those who don't learn from history are truly doomed to repeat it, Calhoun was dead-set against such a fate.

"He's such a good pitcher, and any time you fall behind in the count, if he has his best stuff, he's going to pump it in," catcher Jake Thomas said. "This time we wanted to get on him early, and if he wasn't going to come to us, we'd take the walks."

The plan worked to perfection as No. 2 Calhoun exploded for 10 hits and five walks Monday against Vanderka and the Colts defeated No. 1 MacArthur, 7-3, in Game 1 of the Nassau Class AA finals at Farmingdale State. Game 2 will be played Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Thomas was 1-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored, Dan Sullivan was 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI, and Robbie Rosen was 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and a run for Calhoun (19-5).

"We were real pumped up for this game," Sullivan said. "We knew Vanderka had some good stuff and we didn't do well off him the first time we faced him. But I don't think he had his fastball today, and we took advantage of that."

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Rosen, Frank Trimarco and Alex Ras had back-to-back-to-back RBI hits in the third inning as Calhoun built a 4-0 lead. The Colts tacked on a run in each of the next three innings against MacArthur (20-4).

Calhoun starter Joe Christopher got the win with six innings of three-run ball, allowing nine hits and striking out four. Christopher gave up three of those hits and two of those runs to start the seventh inning, and Mike Simon came on in relief, allowing one hit and getting a double play to preserve the win.

"I started to get a little bit tired," said Christopher, who threw 99 pitches. "I lost a little of my mechanics, it didn't jell. But the first few innings, I was hitting my spots, keeping the ball low and working on ground balls."