Massapequa Coast Little League’s season came just one win short of reaching the ultimate dream.
After the team won an emphatic game over East Hanover (N.J.) in the semifinals of the Little League World Series Metro Regional Championship, it fell 7-1 to Smithfield (R.I.) in the title game in Bristol, Conn., coming up a win shy of reaching Williamsport.
Connor Curtis, whom Massapequa beat in the first game of the regional, had his best stuff on the mound, striking out 14 batters while allowing one run on just three hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings.
Curtis pitched into the sixth inning, striking out the first two batters of the frame before hitting his pitch limit, and Brayden Castellone finished the game with a strikeout.
Ryan Land got the start for the Long Island squad, yielding five runs (four earned) over 2 2/3 innings as a pesky Smithfield lineup scored three in the first inning and took a 5-0 lead over the first three frames.
Down by five in the bottom half of the third, Massapequa battled back when Tommy Tabone started things with a bunt single before advancing to second on a wild pitch.
After a walk and a hit batter, Tabone raced home from third on a wild pitch for the team’s lone run of the game.
Despite falling behind early, Massapequa’s Matteo Pipia — who pitched well in the semis — looked sharp again in relief in the final game.
Pipia largely held the Rhode Island bats in check, striking out seven batters while allowing two runs on two hits with a walk over 3 1/3 innings.
It was the second straight year in which the New York state champions reached the regional final after last year’s Massapequa Coast team made it all the way to the Little League World Series.
This year’s squad was largely made up of the team that won last year’s 10-year-old New York state title.
And despite the loss, Massapequa finished the regional with a 2-1 record, finishing with a plus-12 run differential after winning their first two games by 10-1 margins.
Rhode Island will play Nevada in Williamsport on Wednesday at 3 p.m.