Hennelly leads Sachem North past PM

The final out came in spectacular fashion. Sachem North rightfielder Steve Kowalski went all out running toward foul territory, slid just short of the boundary chain-link fence and made an outstanding catch.

Kowalski jumped to his feet and raced to the infield, where the celebration was on. Behind Brian Hennelly's brilliant, crafty pitching, Sachem North upended No. 3 Patchogue-Medford, 3-1, Friday in a winners' bracket semifinal of the Suffolk Class AA tournament in Patchogue.

The last out punctuated a flawless performance by No. 7 North. The Flaming Arrows will play at No. 5 Eastport-South Manor, a 5-4 winner over Deer Park, in the winners' bracket final at 11 a.m. Monday.

North's trek to the title game could be attributed to Hennelly, who mixed an array of off-speed pitches and great location to keep the Raiders off balance. Hennelly scattered eight hits, hit one batter and struck out four as he improved to 6-1.

"He worked the zone," North coach Tom Gambino said. "And he had tremendous support from his defense."

Hennelly allowed a run in the third and benefited from a solid defense. He induced 10 flyouts.

"They were a very aggressive team and they like to pull the ball, so I used my changeup often," Hennelly said. "The effectiveness of the changeup gave me a lot of confidence."

SEE PHOTOSSachem North 3, Patchogue Medford 1

North (19-4) forged a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning after Mike Scarlato and Kowalski drilled back-to-back run-scoring singles against PM's hard-throwing starter Tyler Moston.

"He was throwing me outside and I just went to right with it," Kowalski said. "It felt real good to contribute in a big spot."

Moston allowed five hits, hit one batter and struck out two in going the distance. He retired 12 of the final 13 batters.

PM cut the deficit to 2-1 in the third. With one out, Dave Tornetta walked and moved to second on Frank Capraro's single. Moston doubled down the leftfield line to drive in Tornetta.

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North added a run in the fourth. Nick Santangelo reached on an error and moved to third on Scarlato's single. Santangelo scored when Kowalski grounded to second for a 3-1 lead.

North will move on against an upstart Eastport-South Manor. And PM goes into the grueling losers' bracket, but will have pitching ace Matt Vogel on the hill.

"We have our work cut for us," Vogel said. "And we're far from done."