Casey Quinn's single in 10th gives Wheatley walk-off win in Game 1 of A quarterfinals
Casey Quinn of Wheatley celebrates his winning hit against Mineola on Saturday. Credit: Neil Miller
Casey Quinn does a little of everything on the baseball diamond. That includes coming through in the clutch.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, Quinn swung at the first and lined a single to left field, driving in Dylan McCauley to give Wheatley a 3-2 walk-off win over visiting Mineola in the first of a three-game Nassau Class A baseball quarterfinal series on Saturday.
“I was just thinking I’ve got to do my job like I’ve been doing all season. Just get a hit anywhere,” Quinn said. “You’ve got to attack, especially with no outs. I was glad we had the bases loaded. It made it much easier for us to score there. It’s a good feeling. I’m ready to get another one.”
Wheatley, the No. 2 seed from Nassau Conference A-II, will try to close the series in Game 2 with a win at Mineola, the No. 3 seed from Nassau A-I, at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Quinn hit a leadoff double in the third inning, stole third and scored when the throw went into left field to give Wheatley a 2-0 lead. He spent all 10 innings behind the plate.
“He’s been our guy all season,” coach Dave Burke said. “He’s one of our pitchers. Our catcher is going through some ailments, so he’s stepped up. He’s really done it all for us. The way that he’s played all year, that moment was just perfect for him.”
Through six scoreless innings, Krish Patel allowed three hits on just 50 pitches. Ryan Valente and Jesse Kostulias each singled to start the seventh for Mineola, prompting Burke to call on Andrew Asaro to try to lock down the save.
“He’s the kind of kid that you give the ball to and you just know he’s gonna compete,” Burke said. “With first and second, nobody out, I had a good feeling about him being able to come in and shut the door down. He was maybe an inch away from that happening.”
With two outs and the bases loaded, Joey Dunlop looped a fly ball into shallow right field, forcing McCauley, Wheatley’s first baseman, to try for a difficult over-the-shoulder catch. The ball bounced off his glove for a single, plating Valente and Kostulias for the tying runs. McCauley’s throw home cut off the potential go-ahead run.
Asaro pitched the remainder of the game, striking out three and allowing no earned runs on two hits in four innings to earn the win for Wheatley (17-3-1). Nick Koutsoftas, the Wildcats’ No. 9 hitter, went 2-for-4, including an infield single to load the bases in the 10th. McCauley and TJ Samuel each walked to start the 10th.
“Always confident in our hitting. Everyone in the lineup can get it done,” Asaro said. “In the 10th, it was 7-8-9 in the lineup that started that inning with three great at-bats and then Casey got it done.”
Dylan Dinkelacker went 3-for-3 and Kostulias struck out seven and allowed two runs in five innings for Mineola (12-9).
“It was a great high school baseball game and it boils down to the little things,” Mineola coach Helms Bohringer said. “Walks kill at any level of baseball and we paid the price. We need to make their pitchers work a little more. Patel didn’t throw many pitches, but he threw strikes and they made the plays for him, so you just have to tip your hat.”
