Max Rayburn's 5 RBIs lead Center Moriches to Game 1 win in Suffolk Class B semifinal
Max Rayburn of Center Moriches drives a single during a Suffolk Class B semifinal baseball game on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 in Mattituck. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Center Moriches picked a good time to pick up the pace for touching home plate — Game 1 of the postseason.
Tuesday's game required touching home a lot in order to claim the victory.
Max Rayburn delivered three hits and drove in five, and Gavin DeRosa added three RBIs to help the third-seeded Red Devils win at No. 2 Mattituck, 13-9, in the opener of this best-of-three Suffolk Class B semifinal.
“We’ve been struggling offensively quite a bit this year, and we've spent a lot of time with our approach at practice, keeping it simple at the plate, using the whole field, being a little bit more selective,” coach Paul Gibson III said. “Today it seemed to mesh together.
"Game 1 is huge. We really wanted to get today, bring it back to our home field on Thursday to have a chance to lock it up there.”
The Red Devils (11-8) are the defending Suffolk and Long Island B champs.
“We wanted to go straight back to where we were and even better, maybe possibly win a state championship,” said senior righty Riley Morris, the starter and winner. “That was our goal and we’re still chasing that goal.”
Center Moriches led, 5-1, then fell behind, 6-5, after Morris (5-1) yielded five runs with two outs in the second. Andrew Berman drove a ball over the leftfield fence for the last two.
But the Red Devils struck right back with five in the third after there were two outs, rallying against starter Ben Voegel (4-3) and reliever Tyler Brown.
Rayburn stepped up with two runs in and the bases loaded. The lefty-hitting freshman first baseman, who belted a two-run double in the first, drove a three-run double to deep left-center — 10-6.
“I feel like our offense, if it reaches its potential, is unstoppable,” Rayburn said.
After Center Moriches scored three in the sixth, it was 13-7.
Mattituck (12-8) cut it to 13-9 in the bottom half, then loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh. But senior righthander John Johnston retired the next three to finish a three-inning save.
Now the Tuckers will have Berman, their senior ace, on the mound to try to prevent elimination.
“We’re a resilient bunch,” coach Dan O’Sullivan said. “It’s only three seniors and we go as far as they take us. But these young guys, they’re definitely learning the game quickly. … I’m proud of them.”
