Stepnoski pitches Mercy to LI 'C' title

Pat Stepnoski admitted he was far from the top of his game Sunday. Friends Academy might have a hard time believing that.

The Mercy righthander seemed on point through the first five innings before tiring a bit in the final two innings. Stepnoski persevered and went the distance. He allowed five hits, three walks and struck out four for Mercy in a 5-2 win over Friends Academy in the Long Island Class C baseball championship game at Farmingdale State.

Mercy (17-5) will play the winner of Monday's game between Tuckahoe and S.S. Seward at 4 p.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph's College in the Southeast Regional final. The winner advances to the state semifinals in Binghamton on Saturday.

"I didn't have my best stuff," Stepnoski said. "I was struggling. I managed to stay in the strike zone. My arm was starting to hang a little bit at the end. I was hoping not to come out."

Stepnoski didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning and allowed just two through the first five. He allowed three hits, two walks, and both runs in the final two innings.

"He battled," Mercy coach Ed Meier said. "He didn't have his best stuff. He had enough to get it done."

Joe Crusser led off the game with a single and Pat Schroeher followed with a single. Two batters later, Stepnoski hit a sacrifice fly to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Christian Lynch led off the second with a double and scored on an error for a 2-0 lead. John Dillon had an RBI triple in the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Crusser to give Mercy a 4-0 lead.

SEE PHOTOSMercy 5, Friends Academy 2

Mercy added a run in the seventh that turned out to be a key since Friends Academy (5-15) rallied in the seventh and it prevented the Quakers from getting the tying run to the plate. Rocco Pascale stole home to make it 5-1.

"At the last second, [Meier] said, 'go,' " Pascale said. "Both of us were thinking about it. He gave me the OK and I slid under the tag on a close play."

Both these teams met in this game last season and Friends Academy prevailed.

"We set out with a goal to get back to this game and go further," Stepnoski said. "Last year was miserable. I still haven't forgotten it."