South Side's Justin Peralta settles in, strikes out seven in win over first-place Garden City
Justin Peralta, South Side pitcher, delivers to the plate during a Nassau Conference A2 baseball game against host Garden City on Monday. Credit: James Escher
South Side righthander Justin Peralta could have let this one get away early. He struggled with control issues as Garden City threatened with multiple runners on base in each of the first three innings.
The Cyclones were fortunate to trail by only two after Garden City left eight men on base, including the bases loaded in the second and third innings.
To Peralta’s credit, his gritty performance gave South Side a chance to come back and win.
Peralta, who threw 72 pitches in the first three innings, found his rhythm and retired 10 of the final 11 batters his faced, as visiting South Side put up a 10-spot in the sixth inning in a 13-2 win over first-place Garden City on Monday in a Nassau Conference A-II baseball game.
Peralta allowed three hits, walked seven and struck out seven to earn the win.
“It was a big game, and I may have been too emotional at the start,” Peralta said. “I found a better rhythm and stayed calm and focused. It was good that I was able to bear down in big spots.”
“He’s our captain and earned the right to battle and find his way out there,” South Side coach Tom Smith said. “He got into a nice groove and minimized his pitches later in the game.”
Garden City (14-2) took a 2-0 lead after Jack Fanning and Braden Soutar drew one-out bases loaded walks in the second inning. Peralta limited the damage by striking out the next two hitters.
South Side (13-2) found little traction in the early going against Garden City ace Gabe Beschloss. The big lefty struck out five in the first two innings.
Then with two outs in the third, Robert Pericolosi got the Cyclones first hit and it was a big one. Pericolosi drove a 1-and-2 fastball well beyond the centerfield fence for a solo home run – his fourth of the season.
“That energized the team,” Peralta said. “It gave us a huge lift.”
Beschloss then loaded the bases with two hit batsmen and a walk but ended the threat with his seventh strikeout.
Pericolosi said of the home run, “He was throwing the ball really well and we didn’t have a hit. I hit it well.”
“He was attacking the zone in and out,” Smith said. “The home run really jumpstarted us.”
Beschloss was removed with one out and a runner on first in the fifth inning. He allowed just one hit, walked six and struck out 10 in his 4 1/3 innings but had reached his pitch limit. South Side scored two unearned runs in the fifth for a 3-2 lead.
And in the sixth, the Cyclones sent 14 batters to the plate, and took advantage of five walks, four hits, two errors and a hit batsman to score 10 runs. Matt Arnott homered to lead off the inning and Jack Bodkin hit a three-run triple to end it.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
