Massapequa opens FieldTurf stadium

Massapequa unveiled its baseball stadium Monday afternoon against Farmingdale. It’s part of the school’s revamped sports complex and features a FieldTurf mound, infield and outfield, home run fence, wind screens and 40-foot dugouts.

“We tried to make it look like a college stadium,” said Massapequa athletic director John Piropato, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch. “This has been in the works for about two to three years. A lot of people collaborated on the vision of what we wanted the stadium to look like, and we’re very proud of it.”

“The players are excited,” Massapequa coach Tom Sheedy said. “It comes down to the fact that this is our home now.”

Farmingdale put somewhat of a damper on the celebration, edging the Chiefs, 3-2, in the Nassau AA-I opener for both teams behind a strong start by Justin Rosner, timely offense over the final three innings and a one-out save from Dante Interlandi.

“That new field is beautiful,” said Rosner, who struck out nine and allowed one hit in 6 2⁄3 innings. “The mound felt really good. I haven’t pitched on a mound that good in a while. I felt like not having the big landing spot helped me with my footing.”

Mike McKenna laid down a suicide-squeeze bunt for Farmingdale to break a tie at 1 with one out in the sixth.

“McKenna is a kid that has great bat control, and we knew he could get it down,” coach Frank Tassielli said. “He was expecting me to call it.”

The Dalers tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to Robby Manetta. After Interlandi relieved Rosner with two outs in the seventh, Aidan Cooney’s single to rightfield cut Massapequa’s deficit to 3-2. Interlandi picked up the final out on a fly ball to right.

“Being a brand-new field, the kids felt it was a little sluggish with the slow track,” Tassielli said. “But no one was complaining. It was a great situation to come out with the win.”

Sheedy acknowledged that the new field will require some adjustments.

“It could take two years just to learn the field,” Sheedy said. “Our old home here, we knew exactly where to place everybody. Every day we’re learning something new about the field.

SEE PHOTOSFarmingdale vs. Massapequa

“As time goes on, the field will probably play faster, which will be a big advantage to us.”