Joe Richetti's hustle wins it for Sachem East against Patchogue-Medford
Sachem East's Joe Richetti drives home the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Patchogue-Medford in a Suffolk league III game, Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Credit: George A Faella
Joe Richetti was down to his last strike. Sachem East’s senior leadoff hitter just wanted to put the ball in play.
With the score tied at 5 and the winning run on third base and two outs, Richetti topped a 2-2 fastball down the first- base line.
“I always bust it out of the batter’s box,” Richetti said. “Speed puts so much pressure on the defense.”
He was right.
Patchogue-Medford pitcher Frank Kentoffio hustled off the mound to try and throw out the speedy Richetti. Nothing doing. Richetti beat the throw to first for an infield single, scoring Nik Antinoro from third, as Sachem East came back to edge Patchogue-Medford, 6-5, in walk-off fashion to finish a Suffolk League I baseball game Tuesday in Holtsville.
“It was a pure hustle play by Richetti,” said Sachem East coach Kevin Schnupp. “That’s why I always want everyone running hard to first base. This was a game we needed.”
Sachem East trailed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Catcher Jake Acker got things started with a line drive double to leftfield. After two were out, Bryan Schwab worked a walk, to put runners at first and second. Antinoro, the No. 9 hitter, drilled a 1-1 fastball for a double to the leftfield wall, scoring Acker and Schwab to tie the score.
Antinoro moved to third on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Richetti.
“I’ve been hitting well, and I was looking for a pitch to drive,” Antinoro said. “And I had full confidence Joe would get me home. We haven’t played well on defense, and we have things to work out. But we never quit.”
Added Schnupp, “We were coming off a bad road loss at Longwood. It was important how we responded today. We did everything wrong against Longwood. And then we gave away the lead today with some bad defense. But coming back showed a lot of team character.”
Sachem East opened a 2-0 lead when Patrick Krempasky lined a two-out, two-run single to rightfield in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Krempasky allowed two hits and shut out the Raiders through the first five innings. He tired in the sixth and gave up a one-out double to junior Rob Melo. An RBI single to Mike Lazaridas cut the Sachem East lead to 2-1.
Schnupp removed Krempasky and the defense committed three errors, as Patchogue-Medford (2-3) seized a 4-3 lead with a four-run sixth.
Melo then launched a mammoth solo home run in the top of the seventh for the 5-3 lead.
“That’s the first time I got a first-pitch fastball this season,” said Melo, who also homered against Floyd on Monday. “And I got all of it.”
Soon after celebrating the win, Richetti laughed at the irony of the infield single that won the game and big-time home run.
“He [Melo] definitely hit a nice shot. We didn’t get down. We’ve been in games like this and battled back. And all that matters is we got the W.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
