Oyster Bay baseball's Brendan O'Brien, Tommy Rizzuto help clinch Nassau B title, top seed in playoffs
Oyster Bay's Tommy Rizzuto beats the throw to Wheatley catcher Noah Fiorello on Brendan O'Brien's two-run single in the first inning. Credit: James Messerschmidt/James Messerschmidt
The Oyster Bay baseball team got fitted for the bullseye on Saturday and now the Baymen can’t wait to wear it in the postseason.
Senior Brendan O’Brien drove in three runs and shook off some early adversity to pitch a complete game, and senior Tommy Rizzuto had two hits, two RBIs and made a spectacular catch in leftfield for host Oyster Bay in its 6-2 victory over Wheatley in Nassau Conference B.
The win completed a three-game regular season sweep of the Wildcats as the Baymen (14-2, 12-0) clinched the division title and the No. 1 seed for the county's Class B postseason, which begins in two weeks.
“We’ve never been the team to beat but we want that label,” Rizzuto said. “We want to show that a small school like ours can have great players and play deep into the playoffs. . . I’ve never been in a clubhouse like ours where everyone thinks the same way about winning and wants the same things.”
Wheatley (11-4, 8-4) remains in the hunt for the No. 2 seed and enters the final week of the regular season tied with Carle Place. The Wildcats have a trio of games against West Hempstead, while Carle Place will play three against Oyster Bay.
Oyster Bay's last two season’s came to disappointing ends with semifinal series losses to Locust Valley two years ago and to Wheatley last season.
“The last two years we felt like we were capable of doing so much more and came up short,” O’Brien said. “Those [losses] have been living in our heads a little bit.”
“I knew we had the quality seniors and potential to be where we are, but there also were a lot of holes to fill and we weren’t sure who or how people would step into them.” Oyster Bay coach Jeff Schiereck said. “We needed a lot of things to fall into place and they have so far.”
Sophomore Alex Karpavicius, who transferred to Oyster Bay from St. Anthony’s, has seamlessly become the primary catcher. Junior righthander Liam Gorney moved from the bullpen to the rotation to become a solid No. 2 starter behind senior righty Dominic Carleo. Freshman Chase Lordi effortlessly made the switch from second base to shortstop. And while Rizzuto’s offense was going to be essential, he has exceeded expectations with a .689 batting average.
“Everything we’ve needed to work has been working,” Schiereck said.
When Rizzuto committed last summer to play college baseball at Adelphi, his suspicion was that he might only pitch in college. The notion that this might be his last season as a hitter has helped him elevate his offense.
“I thought right now might be my last chance to hit and I’ve really relaxed and let go and been looser at the plate,” Rizzuto said. “I hope with the way it’s going, maybe I will have a chance to hit in college.”
O’Brien played a big role in creating an early cushion with a two-run single in a three-run first inning. Rizzuto also had a run-scoring single in the frame.
The Wildcats answered with four hits off O’Brien in the second inning to plate a pair of runs, but he escaped by getting an inning-ending flyout with the bases loaded.
By the time Oyster Bay added a run in the second and two in the fourth on run-scoring singles by Lordi and Rizzuto, O’Brien and Karpavicius had made an adjustment that would keep the Wildcats’ offense in check.
“They were hitting my fastball and we changed to a more off-speed approach,” said O’Brien, who gave up just one hit in the final three innings. “I got early strikes with my changeup and slider. It made my fastball look faster when I went to it.”
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.
