Placing top 3 in the entire east region
The Massapequa International Junior League baseball team recently finished playing in Dubois, PA at the East Region Tournament. This wraps up an incredible season from a group of boys that played hard and never gave up.
The team includes Aidan Hughes, Aiden Pignetti, Chris Sultana, DJ Bordi, Gennaro Trotta, Jack Mulligan, Mark Ozner, Matt Sharon, Michael Diaz, MJ Reimers, Nick Mauro, Ryan Pignetti, Ryan Savage, and Sal Apap. Keith Pignetti manages, and Rob Savage and Gary Gardiner coach.
Their journey to Regionals was marked with success. The team won 2 out of 3 District 31 Tournament games, which advanced them to Sectionals. A 3-0 win in the Section 4 Tournament games advanced them to States. The team totally smashed States, pulling off another three straight wins. They advanced to the East Region Tournament at the beginning of August.
The team rallied against an early loss against NJ Hillsdale, and came back to win the next three games. The team ended the season with a loss against MD Berlin of 5-9.
“It was an absolute pleasure coaching this group of boys this summer,” says Pignetti. “The boys were disappointed with the outcome, [but] I am very proud of how we played all summer long. We did it with a combination of great pitching, stellar defense, and timely hitting. It was a total team effort.”
Pignetti credits Sal Apap for leading the way with his pitching. The team also had contributions of great pitching from Matt Sharon, Ryan Savage, Gennaro Trotta, Aidan Hughes and MJ Reimers. “We played flawless defense most of the summer, especially from Ryan Pignetti, Mark Ozner, Mike Diaz,” Pignetti says. “And we got huge hits from our big bats…Nick Mauro, Chris Sultana, Jack Mulligan.”
Congratulations to the Massapequa International team on a great season!
