Ryan Landau gets hit by pitch to give Kings Park walk-off win
Ryan Landau of Kings Park turns a double play in the fourth inning of a Suffolk League VI matchup against Sayville on Monday at Kings Park. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
When Kings Park needed a rally, the bottom of its lineup came through, setting the table for leadoff hitter Ryan Landau.
Facing a 1-2 count with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Landau was grazed in the back by a pitch to give the Kingsmen a 3-2 walk-off win over Sayville in Suffolk League VI baseball Monday in Kings Park.
Landau sprinted to first as his teammates chased him, ready to celebrate.
“I was just trying to stay composed and be ready for anything,” Landau said. “It was a crazy celebration. I was so surprised. That’s a great win for us.”
Six-hole hitter Chris Schor lined a one-out single to left to start the rally and Joe Rossi followed with a bloop single to shallow right field. Schor’s brother, Dylan, fouled off four pitches in a nine-pitch at-bat that ended in a walk to load the bases.
“He was barely missing the strike zone,” Dylan Schor said. “I took the 3-0 pitch down the middle and just went into battle mode.”
“Him and his brother are freshmen, but they don’t play like it,” coach Andrew Abreu said. “The most impressive thing about Dylan’s at-bat was that he wasn’t coming out of his own. A lot of younger guys would want to be the guy in that moment, but he stuck to his approach and was willing to pass it off to the guy behind him.”
Senior pitcher Connor DeKenipp worked on cruise control until the fifth inning, when Jake Arato plated Nate Lewis and Patrick Coan on a single to left field to tie the score at 2.
Everett Zarzicki, a UConn commit, and Rutgers commit Dylan Frers headline a loaded Kings Park pitching staff. DeKenipp, a Utica commit, struck out one and allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He threw 59 pitches. Charlie Pace pitched two hitless innings of relief to earn the win.
“We have the two power arms, but we have a great balance of guys that have the ability to make pitches and he’s a perfect example of that,” Abreu said. “Connor’s secondary stuff today was special.”
Frers went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, Landau went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run and Nicola Cespe added an RBI single for Kings Park (2-1).
After Kings Park scored two runs in the first innings, Sayville’s Aidan Devane found his groove on the mound. He struck out one and allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Said Abreu: “Early on, it looked like we were on him, but he really figured out his secondary stuff and kept us off balance.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
