Division's Jordan excels in 'A' final

It was only fitting that Kyle Jordan took the mound for Division Thursday. The senior righthander who wears No. 12 was instrumental in leading the Blue Dragons to their 12th county baseball championship.

Jordan won his second game in the postseason with a complete game, allowing seven hits and a walk. He struck out six for No. 7 Division in a 6-2 win over No. 3 Island Trees in the finale of the best-of-three Nassau Class A finals at Farmingdale State.

Division (20-7) will play Shoreham-Wading River for the Long Island Class A championship at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Farmingdale State. The winner advances to the state semifinals.

The crowd expressed its appreciation for Jordan by chanting his name during the final inning and postgame ceremony. "It's unbelievable," he said. "It's really a surreal feeling to walk out and hear people chanting your name.''

Division has good starting pitching, and while Jordan slots in as the No. 3, coach Tom Tuttle views it differently.

"He's been pitcher No. 3 for us," Tuttle said, "but he's like a 1A. Kyle set the tone for us. He stopped a good hitting team. He threw his curveball for strikes.''

Added John Cruz: "Kyle said if it goes three, he's closing the door. He did exactly that."

A five-run fourth made it 6-0 as the Blue Dragons batted around. Johnny Muller's RBI single made it 2-0 and an intentional walk to Cruz loaded the bases. Lenny Martinez hit a two-run single and with two outs, Matthew Santorufo hit a line drive in the left-centerfield gap for a two-run double.

"I kept saying to myself 'Don't let this opportunity pass,' " Santorufo said. "That was a big inning. The entire lineup swung at good pitches, took walks or got hits when needed."

Cruz went 2-for-3, Santorufo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, J.J. Kissane went 2-for-4, Thomas Wiebke went 2-for-2 and Muller 2-for-3 with an RBI. Mike Witteck went 3-for-3 for Island Trees (22-7).

Despite being a seventh seed, Tuttle said he expected to win.

"Seven seed wasn't really accurate," he said. "Going into the season I thought we were one of the best teams in the county. We happen to have three losses by one run. We were as good as anybody."

Said Santorufo: "It's Division baseball. We always end big. We know how to come together as a team at the right time."