Jack Scannapieco's solid pitching helps Massapequa to third state crown
The Massapeque baseball team celebrates their win against Liverpool in the Class AAA New York State Championship Game on June 13, 2026 at Binghamton University. Credit: Matthew Crisafulli
VESTAL — Mission accomplished. The Massapequa baseball team is on top of the world once more.
Massapequa defeated Liverpool of Section III, 7-1, in the state Class AAA championship game at Binghamton University on Saturday. It was the third state title in program history and first since 2018, as well as its first in Class AAA. The team wrapped up its championship ride with a record of 25-3-1, while Liverpool finished 16-12-1.
“We thought in the offseason that this was going to be a special group with all the ingredients needed to be a state champion, and you just saw today the accumulation of a whole year’s work,” Massapequa coach Tom Sheedy said.
Massapequa followed an almost identical script as it did in its semifinal win over Monroe-Woodbury on Friday night, as it grabbed the momentum early and never looked back. Jack Scannapieco set the tone with a perfect top of the first inning on just eight pitches, getting a pair of weak ground balls before ending it emphatically with a looking strikeout.
Scannapieco’s dominant opening helped settle the whole roster’s nerves. He went on to hold Liverpool scoreless through the first five innings. Overall, he allowed just one run on five hits and a walk over five-plus frames, striking out five batters.
“I was pitching on this field last year when we lost in the semis, but after that first inning today, I knew it was our time and that we were going to win that state championship,” Scannapieco said. “When I was about to go out, I was really nervous, but my coach told me to just take a breath and look around, and take it all in and smile. That’s exactly what I did, and I felt calm, and my pitches were working.”
The now-energized Massapequa bats got right to work, as Chris Sultana ripped a two-out RBI single through the right side in the bottom of the first inning to score Brady Love.
“I feel like I did my job,” Sultana said. “I got the bench hyped up. We still had the whole rest of the game, but I knew right from there it was going to turn out well for us.”
In the second inning, John Neary worked a bases-loaded walk to force in Joe Genova and make it 2-0. In the third, Genova lined a single into rightfield, where the ball was misplayed, allowing pinch runner Xavier Micheli to score from first base. Genova then scored on a bloop single by Ryan Moore to make it 4-0.
Genova helped put the game away with a first-pitch RBI double up the right-centerfield gap in the fifth inning, scoring Sultana. Moore then grounded a ball to third base, allowing Caiden Erker to score and make it 6-0.
Genova finished the game 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
“I’ve just been doing whatever I can to get these guys a state championship,” Genova said. “Some of them will never play baseball again for the rest of their lives, so I’m just trying to make sure they end on a high note and win it for them.”
Liverpool broke the shutout with a sacrifice fly by Paolo Martinez in the sixth inning, but Sultana got that run right back by smoking an RBI double to deep centerfield, scoring AJ Conza to provide the final margin. Sultana finished Saturday 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, two RBIs and a run.
Lefthander Sal Apap got the final six outs, striking out two in two perfect innings.
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
