Honeyman's clutch hit boosts Massapequa
Massapequa High School shortstop #19 Bobby Honeyman laces a tie-breaking, two-run single into right field with two outs in the top sixth inning. (April 30, 2012) Credit: James Escher
With the score tied in the top of the sixth, Massapequa lefthanded-hitting sophomore Bobby Honeyman had a chance to put his team ahead with the bases loaded and two outs. But on a 1-and-2 pitch, Honeyman fouled the ball off of his face, and appeared rattled.
"The ball just went off my bat, off my cheek and knocked my helmet off and I was a little shaken up," he said. "After that, I just stepped back into the box and got a little more angry, tried to not do too much."
Honeyman recovered and came through, blooping a two-run single to right off of host Oceanside lefthanded starter James Long, which proved to be the difference in Massapequa's 5-3 win Monday in Nassau Class AA-I baseball.
"He has great poise and that's why he bats third, he's our best hitter," Massapequa coach Tom Sheedy said. "Lefty-righty, lefty-lefty, he's the guy for us. He showed a lot of guts there coming through with the winning hit after getting hit in the face."
Massapequa (9-1) opened the scoring with a three-run third, sparked by senior Jeremy Baldwin's first career home run that led off the inning.
Oceanside (5-5) answered with a run in the bottom of the third and two in the fourth, tying the score as the result of two Massapequa errors, a walk, a hit batsman and a passed ball.
Ryan McCormick earned the win and was in control for most of the game, pitching his way out of jams caused by his three walks and Massapequa's four errors. With the bases loaded and none out in the fourth, he escaped damage by inducing a 1-2-3 double play. In the sixth, he left two runners stranded after an error extended the inning by picking up one of his nine strikeouts.
"I just powered by them with my curveball and my fastball and I just tried to attack them as much as I could," McCormick said. " I just try to relax and throw a ground ball to get a double play."
Still, McCormick appreciated his teammates' efforts, especially their clutch hitting at the end of the game.
"My team can hit whenever they want to,'' he said, "and they got the job done."
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