Alex Bauer, team effort carry Cold Spring Harbor to Nassau IV final
Alex Bauer of Cold Spring Harbor reaches for a touchdown during the Nassau Conference IV semifinal football game against Malverne on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead. Credit: Dawn McCormick
It took every little bit that Cold Spring Harbor could muster, and the contributions came from everywhere.
There was junior running back Alex Bauer, who got the ball 17 times after halftime.
There was the offensive line tandem of seniors James Grego and Tucker Stella, who kept opening holes when it mattered most.
There were the key defensive stops at the goal line by senior linebackers Reagan Reilly and Tim Pisano.
And there was the pivotal 50-yard punt from junior Ben Stark, who took over those duties just this week.
Cold Spring Harbor got a true ensemble performance in a 15-7 overtime win over Malverne on Saturday night in a Nassau IV semifinal at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
Bauer staked the Seahawks to an eight-point lead with a 1-yard touchdown run and the two-point conversion at the start of overtime. Cold Spring Harbor got the stops from Reilly and Pisano to force the Mules into a fourth-and-goal from the 4, and it ended when Chad Wesley’s throw into the end zone sailed high.
No. 3 CSH (9-1) will play top seed Seaford (9-1) in Saturday’s 4 p.m. championship game at Hofstra. CSH is seeking its seventh Nassau crown and first since 2018.
“It’s been a theme for us all season — the defense standing tall in the face of adversity,” Cold Spring Harbor coach Jon Mendreski said. “That’s not coaching. It’s heart, and you have it or you don’t.”
CSH trailed 7-0 at the half and got even when Bauer (150 yards on 26 carries) broke three tackles on a 26-yard TD run in the third quarter.
Bauer scored the go-ahead touchdown the way he got most of his yards, running behind the blocking of Grego and Stella. And when the No. 2 Mules (7-3) got flagged on the extra-point attempt, Mendreski opted to go for two.
“I love running behind those guys — they dig deep and grind,” Bauer said.
Wesley’s 10-yard run got the Mules to the CSH 2, but Brendan McLaughlin was stopped by Pisano for a 2-yard loss and Wesley threw incomplete. Isaiah Jolly was stopped for no gain by Pisano and Reilly, setting up the final incompletion.
“We put our heads down in that [series] and had one goal,” Reilly said. “You don’t want it to be your last game.”
Added Pisano, “In that moment, you do whatever you have to, whatever you can.”
Malverne got 85 rushing yards from Michael McDougall and 78 and a 13-yard TD from Branden McLoughlin but couldn’t break through in overtime.
“The offense panicked,” Mules coach Kito Lockwood said. “It’s our first overtime game and a lot of guys haven’t been in this kind of situation with these stakes. They played a great season and the end is unfortunate.”
Yardage was hard to come by for either team and field position was key. Stark, who has been the placekicker all season but was installed as the punter this week, had a 50-yard kick to pin Malverne at its own 10. The Seahawks' defense got a three-and-out and, after a punt, took over at the Mules’ 38. The scoring drive was four Bauer runs.
“[Bauer] really came through for us as he has all year,” Mendreski said. “As he goes, we go. So you get in a big situation [and] you put the ball in the hands of your playmakers. He had a great game.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
