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Jake Ostertag's shutout gives Babylon Suffolk B baseball crown - Newsday

Published 1 month ago3 minute read

Jake Ostertag fired his 104th pitch of the game through the falling raindrops and waited patiently on the mound for a high chopper to come down to his glove. He took his time and made a soft throw to the chest of first baseman Tobin Gold.

The sophomore then threw his glove in the air and was mobbed by his teammates as top-seeded Babylon had just notched a 4-0 win over No. 2 Pierson to claim its third straight Suffolk Class B baseball championship in Selden on Wednesday.

Ostertag struck out seven and allowed five hits and three walks in a complete game shutout.

“My arm felt great. The adrenaline was pumping. I was basically blacking out out there,” Ostertag said. “I was like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s get these outs and get this win.’”

Babylon will face Carle Place in the Long Island championship game/Southeast regional final at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 7 at Farmingdale State.

Gavin McDonnell pitched a complete game one-hit shutout in the Panthers’ 6-0 win in Game 1 of the best-of-three series on Monday. McDonnell and Ostertag have both stepped up this season with Aidan Kistner and James Rugolo – two of Babylon’s top pitchers – recovering from Tommy John surgery.

“Those are two college-projected pitchers,” coach Michael Birnbaum said. “We’re a small school, so you take away two kids and it can become tough, but it’s a testament to their hard work and kids just stepping up. This is a great bunch of young men.”

Babylon took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when John Harkins scored on a sacrifice fly to shallow center by Ostertag.

In the third, Joe Cavallo hit a two-run blast to right field in a 1-2 count to give Babylon a 3-0 lead.

“I just knew I had to come with a two-strike approach and he threw me a changeup that was middle-middle, so I just decided to put it over,” Cavallo said. “We were only up 1-0, so breaking it open a little bit really felt great.”

Ostertag was the first person out of the dugout to congratulate Cavallo.

“I was jumping for joy for that one,” Ostertag said.

Braeden Mott struck out five and allowed three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings for Pierson (10-12). He went 1-for-1 with two walks.

Babylon (19-3) will ride a 12-game winning streak into the Long Island Championship.

“Babylon is a small town, it’s very sports oriented,” Birnbaum said. “We have a lot of community support and the kids play for the name on the front of their jerseys.”

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