Hot hitting by Mikey Smar, Caiden Erker gives Massapequa Nassau Class AAA baseball title

Mikey Smar took it personally.

The Massapequa junior third baseman was standing in the on-deck circle when Farmingdale intentionally walked Thomas Harding to load the bases in the fourth inning. With Harding on his way to play at St. John’s next year and first base open, it wasn’t a shocking decision, but still, that slight sharpened Smar’s focus when he went to the plate.

“I took it personally that somebody would put someone on base just to face me,” he said. “I took that personally and I was just in the right mindset to crush a ball. The second the ball left his hands, I knew I was hitting it.”

Smar sent the fourth pitch up the middle for a two-run single to give second-seeded Massapequa a five-run lead en route to a 12-0 victory over top-seeded Farmingdale in the deciding Game 3 of the Nassau Class AAA baseball championship series on Sunday morning at Farmingdale State College.

An enthused Smar flexed his arms toward his teammates in the dugout in excitement after the two-run single. He also had a two-run double in the fifth, raising his fist in celebration as he rounded first base.

“I feel the environment helped me out today and it fired the crowd up,” Smar said. “I feel like everything came together for us today.”

Massapequa received contributions throughout the lineup, recording 14 hits and scoring at least one run in five of the seven innings. Smar went 2-for-4 with five RBIs, Caiden Erker was 3-for-3 with two doubles, four runs scored, two RBIs and a walk, and Anthony Conza went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks in a balanced offensive attack in which eight of nine starters scored at least one run.

Jack Scannapieco scattered four hits and a walk in five innings to record his second Game 3 victory in the last two playoff rounds.

“I just wanted to throw strikes and attack them,” Scannapieco said. “Get some outs, get ground balls. I was pumped up. I couldn’t wait for this opportunity.”

Massapequa (18-8) will face Connetquot in the Long Island Class AAA championship/Southeast Regional final at Farmingdale State on Saturday at 7 p.m. Farmingdale finished 19-5-1.

Massapequa lost in the Nassau Class AAA semifinals last season, snapping a streak of six straight county championships. That final loss was a motivator throughout the year.

“It definitely lit a fire under us,” Erker said. “Not being in the county championship last year after Massapequa being in it pretty much every year, it definitely changed everyone’s mindset. Losing’s pretty much not an option.”

“They’ve been focused for a while now, and I don’t think today was any different,” coach Tom Sheedy said. “I don’t think the magnitude of the game changed anything. They were excited and ready to play without having a bravado out there that high school kids sometimes do. They were ready to play.”

He added: “Three of our last four games have been elimination games. The way this team has been playing is averse to pressure, and I think they are reveling in the opportunity to play in big games.”