For the ninth straight season, the baseball programs in Sachem gathered Friday night for the annual Tim Crowley Memorial Tournament.
Sachem East completed a tournament sweep as its team at every level defeated Sachem North. East’s varsity beat North, 7-1, in the featured game of the tournament. Sachem East’s JV team beat Sachem North, while Seneca beat Sagamore and Sequoya beat Samoset.
The tournament is played every year in honor of Sachem alum Tim Crowley, a former team captain for the Flaming Arrows, who died tragically in a car accident while he was attending and playing baseball at Oglethorpe University in Georgia.
“Every year it’s hard, but I love the fact that we do it for him,” said Sachem North coach Tom Gambino, who played with Tim at Sachem and Oglethorpe. “He was a great kid, great athlete, great student and did everything the right way. I love that we do this every year.”
“To see his family and have both Sachem schools come together like this is what Tim would have wanted,” added Sachem East coach Kevin Schnupp. “Tim was such a competitor and both sides played the game the right way, the way Tim played.”
Sachem East jumped on the scoreboard early and gave pitcher Tim Quinn enough insurance to coast for the remainder of the contest.
“Our sticks came to help,” said Quinn. “I threw a pretty good game on the mound and when you get a couple of good calls to go your way, it helps. We were all in sync and it was a big help to get the W today.”
Banfi, O’Donnell win Crowley Scholarships
Every year the Crowley Family is on hand to present scholarship checks to student-athletes from both Sachem East and Sachem North who excel on the field and in the classroom. This year Mike O’Donnell from Sachem North and Corey Banfi from Sachem East were the recipients.
“It means the world to me because my whole life I’ve prided myself on being a student-athlete,” said Banfi, “and I know athletics are important, but being a student comes first.”
On O’Donnell, Gambino said, “He’s a great kid. He works hard everyday. He’s well deserving of something like that. He does well in the classroom, works hard and that’s the type of kid you want to win the scholarship.”
North’s playoff run begins next week
Sachem North finished the regular season with a 17-3 overall mark and a League II title under its belt. The real fun starts next week as the Suffolk County Class AA playoffs begin. Teams will learn their playoff seed on Monday after a meeting of the Suffolk County Baseball Coaches Association.
While it’s not certain, Sachem North is likely to receive one of the top two seeds in the county meaning a first round bye and home field advantage.
While the Flaming Arrows had a 10-game win streak snapped against Sachem East on Friday, it’s not concerning for Gambino and company as a new season starts in the playoffs; a second season.
“Today the only difference was we left guys on base, where the last 10 or 15 games we’ve been knocking them in,” he said. “That’s going to happen in baseball, whether we were 10-8 going into the playoffs or 17-3. At this point, no one’s record matters. Hopefully we play like we’ve been and we’ll be fine.”
Heaton throws ceremonial first pitch
Sachem alum and former Major League pitcher Neal Heaton threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Friday’s game. He also threw out the first pitch during the inaugural game nine seasons ago. Heaton graduated from Sachem in 1979. He played college ball at the University of Miami and spent more than a decade in the pros. He is a member of the Sachem, Miami and Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fames.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro