Gutty Bammann pitches Lindenhurst past Longwood

After a line drive struck Lindenhurst righthander Tom Bammann in the right side of his face April 12, teammate Dan DiBlasi thought he wouldn't see Bammann on the mound the rest of the season.

"I didn't expect him back at all," DiBlasi said. "You heard it from the outfield. When you take a hit like that, you don't think you're going to come back."

"I'm shocked he's back," Lindenhurst coach Mike Canobbio said. "If you saw the injury when he got hit, you would never expect him to pitch this year."

But Bammann, who suffered multiple facial fractures, is not only back, he's effective. He made his third start since getting struck and DiBlasi drove in two runs in No. 1 Lindenhurst's 3-1 win over No. 2 Longwood in a Suffolk Class AA winner's bracket baseball final Friday.

"I didn't think I would be back," said Bammann, who allowed eight hits, walked none and struck out seven in the complete game. "It was pretty bad. I am lucky to get back."

Longwood (19-4) will host Half Hollow Hills West in a loser's bracket final at 11 a.m. Saturday. The winner plays at Lindenhurst at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Lindenhurst (22-1) needs one win to earn the county championship.

Like Bammann, Longwood's Brandon McClain threw a gem. He allowed three hits and three runs (two earned) in six innings, walking three and striking out three.

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"I couldn't ask for anything more," Longwood coach John Davide said. "He kept us in the game. We just couldn't get the bats going."

DiBlasi had two-out RBI singles in the fourth and sixth, and the Bulldogs added another run in the sixth on an error.

Longwood, which rallied from a 2-0 seventh-inning deficit on Wednesday for a 3-2 victory over Hills West, attempted another comeback in the seventh. J.J. Bessell doubled home a run, but with runners on first and third, Bammann got a line drive to center to end the game.

"I mixed up my pitches a lot and kept the ball away," he said. "I know Brandon's a tough pitcher, so I knew it would be tight."

Bammann said it took some time to get used to being back on the mound. He made his return May 15.

"In the beginning I was a little tentative and was throwing away from hitters," he said. "Once I got a ground ball back to me, I settled down."

Said Canobbio: "I feel so good for him that he was able to pitch well in this situation."