Long Island Lutheran falls short in NYSAIS baseball championship
LUHI Kayden Bates bats in the 5th inning at the NYSAIS High School state championship baseball game ,Long Island Lutheran vs Fieldston on Wednesday, May 21 ,2025 in Purchase ,NY Credit: Neil Miller
PURCHASE — Kayden Bates had put together the best at-bats for Long Island Lutheran all game and it seemed fitting that he had a chance to keep the Crusaders alive with two outs in the seventh, trailing by a run.
Bates launched a triple into the gap on the first pitch, eluding the leaping rightfielder and tying the game for the Crusaders. It felt as if LuHi would grab its first lead at any moment.
That moment never materialized as No. 4 Long Island Lutheran fell to No. 2 Fieldston, 3-2, in eight innings in the NYSAIS championship at Purchase College on Wednesday afternoon.
“I just wanted to come up clutch in that moment,” Bates said. “Everything we put into the season, I just wanted to try to help us succeed.”
LuHi got the game to extra innings, but was retired in order in the top of the eighth. Noah Nemirovsky dropped down a squeeze bunt with runners on first and third, driving in the winning run for Fieldston (14-5) in the bottom of the eighth.
Bates put LuHi in strong position to take an early lead, hitting a single followed by a steal of second. Two pitches later, he stole third and the catcher’s throw sailed into leftfield, but Bates was thrown out trying to advance home.
The Crusaders had runners on second and third with one out in the second and bases loaded with two outs, but struck out in each situation and failed to score.
“We missed a couple of opportunities on the bases early,” LuHi coach Shaun Manning said. “In a game like this, the little things matter. In the end, they were a bit better at those little things.”
Bates hit a ball to the left-centerfield gap with a runner on third and one out in the fifth inning. Fieldston centerfielder Ellis Lynch-Kahn laid out to make a diving grab, turning an extra-base hit into a sacrifice fly as LuHi cut its deficit to 2-1.
“When I hit the triple, I was thinking about the play from my last at-bat,” Bates said. “They made the diving play earlier, so when I saw the guy jump in right, I thought it was getting caught too.”
Matthew Muzikant started for the Crusaders (9-12), allowing no earned runs over 6 2/3 innings and striking out five. Casey Coco had two hits and scored two runs and Frederick Von Bargen had two hits.
“I know the talent this group has and how good we can possibly be,” Muzikant said. “Next year we’re going to be 10 times better, we’re going to be back here.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
