St. Dominic’s CYO 8th and 6th Grade Baseball Teams Win Championships
The 8th grade St. Dominic’s CYO team won the CYO Nassau, Suffolk baseball championship. They beat an undefeated St. Ignatius team 9-7. The boys started playing together as 4th graders. Over the past 5 years they made it to the championship game twice only to come up short both times.
As the boys gathered for the game they all knew this would be their last game together as a team. It was a seesaw battle with the score changing many times. The were down 6-4 and tied the score. They were then down 7-6 and had a big rally to go up 9-7 with three innings to play. The boys were within 9 outs of a championship. At that point everything came together and the boys clamped down with played stellar defense.
At the awards ceremony after the game, Elaine Schuberrman from the NSCYO staff was on hand to present the boys with their awards. As she presented the award she said “always the bridesmaid and today finally the bride, I want to congratulate St. Dominic’s, you boys are the champions.”
A No Cut Year
The boys were coached by Curt Exum, Andrew Galgano, Carlos Garcia and Tom Lassandro. The roster was full at 15 boys, but prior to the season the coaches along with CYO coordinator Gus Nunziata decided there would be no cuts. This was their last year to play CYO baseball and they would not only carry all 15 boys and everyone would get equal playing time. Gus Nunziata said “It is a bittersweet moment, we have watched this group grow from little boys playing T-ball to young men over the years. They have taken their fair share of lumps along the way but were resilient and always showed up the next day to practice with a smile on their faces. They learned that hard work and perseverance pays off. We wish them luck in high school and life. It is a great bunch of boys”
The success of the St. Dominic’s baseball program continued as the 6th grade team also won the championship. The boys in only their second year of competition defeated St. Killian’s in the championship game. The boys had a tremendous season, finishing with an impressive 8 and 3 record. They are coached by John Dagher and Kenny Breur. The coaches were very proud of the boys and they are getting ready to repeat next season. Congratulations to the all boys as well as the coaches.
