MacArthur's Barry shrugs off the pressure

It would seem there would be a lot of pressure on MacArthur lefthander Josh Barry with his team facing elimination, but Barry didn't show a trace of worry Tuesday. Barry was supposed to take the mound in Game 2 of the best-of-three Nassau Class AA championship series, but the game was postponed after the first game at Farmingdale State between Wantagh and Division was delayed because of lightning and rain. The game didn't resume until 7:40 p.m. in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Top-seeded MacArthur will play No. 2 Calhoun at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Farmingdale State. Calhoun won Game 1, 7-3, on Monday.

"A lot of people see us as the one seed and think our heads are down," the Stony Brook-bound Barry said. "We went back to school and said hey we lost. We have to win two games. We've won plenty of games this year. We've been playing this game since 5 years old. We know how to handle it . . . You just have to be relaxed and loose."

Barry, along with Frankie Vanderka, has been part of a 1-2 combo that has dominated for MacArthur (20-4). Barry is 7-0 with an 0.89 ERA.

"He's throwing every pitch for a strike," MacArthur coach Steve Costello said. "You can call a 3-and-1 slider. He'll put pretty much everything in the strike zone."

MacArthur has been one of the top teams in Nassau with its fourth appearance in the final in five seasons and eighth since 1994, which was the last year the Generals won a championship.

Calhoun (19-5) is going for its first championship since 2002. The Colts have been without ace Tyler Thornton, who will play at James Madison, all season. He injured his shoulder during the football season, but the young Colts, who start four sophomores and three juniors, have stepped up. John Mekelburg is scheduled to start for Calhoun.

"At the beginning, we thought it was a major loss," Calhoun coach Joe Corea said. "They have matured mentally and we always could hit."