On June 6, the Tuckahoe Tigers officially began their playoff march, hosting No. 4-seeded Haldane in a Class C first round elimination game. Despite being heavily favored against the Blue Devils, the top-seeded Tigers had their hands full on Saturday, edging their opponent 4-3 to advance to the Section I Championship Series this week. 

Tuckahoe fell behind 1-0 in the first inning and suffered a significant loss when starting catcher and leadoff hitter James Galati was injured on a steal attempt and forced to leave the game. According to Tuckahoe coach Jerry DeFabbia, Galati’s bat—and presence behind the plate—were certainly missed on Saturday afternoon and his absence will figure to be a key storyline as Tuckahoe prepares for the finals.

“[James] ended up breaking his hand below his middle finger and really, you can’t replace him,” DeFabbia said. “But [backup] Jacob Liberati has done a lot of catching for us and we’re going to need other seniors like Rob Cypher and Anthony Tait to step up and fill those shoes.”

Throwing to the freshman backstop, senior right-hander Louis Chiavetta remained effective, limiting the Blue Devils to just three runs on the day—no small feat given Tuckahoe’s 20-7 victory over Haldane earlier in the season.

“It was early in the year and we were able to break it open when we got to their bullpen,” DeFabbia said. “But we know the history of this rivalry and they’re a tough team so I figured it would be much closer on Saturday.”

DeFabbia noted that Haldane was able to keep things close, in part, because of a host of Tiger miscues on the base paths that served to hamstring potential rallies. The head coach stressed that his team will need to be more disciplined as it begins a best-of-three series against No. 2 North Salem on June 7 to determine the Class C champion.

“That’s the first time we’ve done that; we run the bases every day,” he said. “You’ve got pitching, hitting and defense, but sometimes the mental aspect can be more important than the other three, especially in the playoffs.”

The Tigers will host North Salem in Game 1 on Monday afternoon and travel to the No. 2 seed’s home field for a Game 2 showdown on June 10. If necessary, the two teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Saturday.

“They’re going to be the best team we’ve played, and if not the best, then right up there,” DeFabbia said. “We’ve got our top pitcher in Michael Meyers going on Monday, and I feel he’s got the ability to go out and beat anyone; we just need to be able to get the timely hits.”

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