Steven Hernandez's RBI helps Lindenhurst baseball scratch out win over Commack
Teammates mob Lindenhurst's Steven Hernandez (15) after he drives in the winning run during the Suffolk baseball game between Lindenhurst and Commack on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. Credit: Bob Sorensen
The Lindenhurst baseball team looked into the opposing dugout at their Michael J. Canobbio Field and acknowledged the obvious as it looked at Commack. The defending Suffolk Class AA champion is a formidable foe with few weaknesses. The Bulldogs, however, also saw something else: a team that this season hasn’t faced many pressure situations.
Well, Lindenhurst found a way to put the Cougars in one on Tuesday evening and that’s where they found success. The Bulldogs managed to keep the line moving as Commack tried to close the door on them in the seventh inning and found a way to squeak through. Lindy scored four runs in their final turn at the plate and eked out a 7-6 Suffolk I victory.
Steve Hernandez hit a one-out fly ball to centerfield off Commack’s hard-throwing righty Aidan Murphy with the bases loaded and Thomas Charlwood raced home from third base ahead of a strong throw from Commack’s Ryan Krzemienski for the winning run.
“He’s a hard thrower and that was 100% the moment to grab,” Charlwood said. “I’m fast and I knew I had the wheels.”
“Our coach said to look for a moment and that was one, where I had to put the ball in play against a good pitcher,” Hernandez said.
Lindenhurst (15-3) has trailed Commack in the standings all season but now, with two games left between the teams in this final week of the regular season, can swipe the T. Commack (16-2) can clinch with a win on its home field Wednesday.
“Commack is a special team and loaded with good players and they have been pretty comfortable winning all those games this season,” Bulldogs coach Rob Moore said. “For once we put a little pressure on them and forced them to make plays.”
Commack led 4-2 entering the Lindy sixth and nearly gave up the lead was it not for a spectacular diving catch by leftfielder Joey DiMotta with the bases loaded. The Bulldogs did get within 4-3.
And then it looked like Commack might have put it out of reach in the top of the seventh when Matthew Mayer’s two-run homer to left upped the lead to three runs.
The Bulldogs’ comeback started with a pair of hit-by-pitches before Murphy was summoned to get the final three outs. A bunt resulted in a throwing error that allowed the first run to score. Charlwood walked to load the bases and then Chris Carson hit a slow bouncer down to third base.
The speedy Carson, a Stony Brook commit, not only beat the throw, but the throw went wide allowing the tying run to score. Donny Whalen was intentionally walked and Murphy got a pop-up for the first out with the bases full. Hernandez followed by plating the winning run.
“We’ve been a comeback team all season,” Carson said. “We say ‘Bulldog tough’ and it was on display right there in that inning.”
“This team has a knack for stringing things together — each guy feeds off the previous at-bat,” Moore said. “We still have a shot at a league title. You can’t ask for more.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
