CJ Pisano's home run powers St. John the Baptist baseball over Holy Trinity
CJ Pisano didn’t have a chance to swing until his third plate appearance. He made sure it was a good one.
With a little help from the gusting wind, the senior drove a first-pitch fastball over the centerfield fence for a home run in the fifth inning of St. John the Baptist’s 10-4 win over Holy Trinity in CHSAA baseball on Tuesday in Hicksville.
“The wind was blowing out to centerfield and I knew I got under it a little bit, but since it had the height, I knew it had a chance,” Pisano said. “I sprinted a little bit. I wish I could’ve really styled it, but I’m just glad it went out.”
Pisano was hit by the second pitch he saw in his first at-bat and laid down a sacrifice bunt in a pivotal fourth inning.
The bunt moved Thomas Rorick to second base, allowing him to score on a single to leftfield by Ray Ferguson III.
“We weren’t hitting our best coming into this game, so we talked about playing small ball,” coach Ryan Dalton said. “We had four sacrifice bunts today that wound up leading to a lot happening.”
The Cougars’ bats came alive following the bunt. Keegan McElligott and Christian Alicea each singled before scoring when Jaxson Werner scorched a line drive that rolled to the fence in right-centerfield.
Werner had struck out in his previous two plate appearances but came through to give the Cougars a 6-0 lead.
“I think I was trying to do too much my first two at-bats, but I felt like I was seeing the ball well.” Werner said. “I got down to two strikes again, but I choked up on the bat and widened out my stance. I was looking for something close to the zone and I smacked it to the gap.”
Werner later scored on a fielder's choice in the six-run fourth inning.
Meanwhile, junior pitcher Nick D’Avanzo was shutting down Holy Trinity’s offense.
The lefty throws from a three-quarter arm slot and constantly uses his slider to keep opposing hitters off balance. He had the backdoor slider working against righties and he was able to bury it low and away from the lefties.
“Their lineup has a lot of righties and especially with my arm slot, it’s a lot easier to for me to backdoor it than to get it inside,” D’Avanzo said.
D’Avanzo struck out nine batters while allowing two runs on four hits in five innings.
“I grew up watching guys like Clayton Kershaw and Max Fried,” D’Avanzo said. “I pay attention to how they attack batters in different counts and I just try to replicate it.”
Tyler Cook went 1-for-2 with an RBI and scored a run on a double by Sebastian Velasquez for Holy Trinity (4-3).
McElligott and Alicea each had two hits and scored two runs and Dominick Coniglio went 3-for-5 for St. John the Baptist (6-3-1).
“We’re really starting to figure it out,” Pisano said. “I think Holy Trinity is one of the most talented teams we’ve played so far, so this is a big win for us.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
