Luke Filippi tosses complete game to lead Port Jefferson baseball to its first Long Island title since 2008
Port Jefferson starting pitcher Luke Filippi delivers a pitch against Carle Place in the Long Island Class C baseball finals, Friday, June 3, 2022 at St. Joseph's Athletic Complex. Credit: George A Faella
The Port Jefferson baseball program won its last Long Island title 14 years ago. And after going 6-12 in 2021 and missing the playoffs, it made what happened Friday at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue, that much sweeter.
Winning pitcher Luke Filippi struck out eight batters in seven innings and allowed one run and five hits for Port Jefferson in its 6-1 win over Carle Place in the Long Island Class C championship.
“It’s so cool to see the growth,” Filippi said. “Having a bad record last year and winning it all this year is awesome.”
What a difference a year makes. The Royals improved to 20-4 and Carle Place finished 8-13.
The Royals won’t have a lot of time to celebrate, as they’ll take a 7:30 a.m. bus to Cantine Field in Saugerties to face Section IX champion Chester in the New York State regionals Saturday at 1 p.m.
Filippi uncharacteristically walked three batters in the first three innings but buckled down and didn’t issue any additional free passes in the final four innings.
“The mound dropped off where my heel was landing, but I just kept trying to pound the zone and let my teammates make plays,” Filippi said.
The senior went 1-for-2 at the plate with a walk, stolen base and drove in Daniel Owens on a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Port Jefferson led 2-0 after two innings and added some cushion in the third when Evan Raymond hit a two-out single to rightfield to score Ruairi Rago and Abigail Rolfe, giving the Royals a 4-0 lead.
“I just wanted to come through in that spot and it felt good to do it,” said Raymond, an eighth-grader who participated in field day earlier in the day and was wearing his class shirt under his jersey. “This is definitely better than field day.”
The Royals had only four hits but drew eight walks and had seven batters hit by a pitch.
“I tend to get hit a lot,” said Rolfe, who was hit twice. “Maybe tomorrow it won’t feel so good, but I’m great right now.”
Port Jefferson lost in its last regional appearance in 2008.
“We’re definitely looking to move on to the next round this time,” coach Jesse Rosen said. “To say that this team is capable of anything is a generic statement, but you saw it from them today.”
Maybe 14 years will make all the difference for the Royals this time around.
