PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Maritime baseball team dropped its Skyline Conference Tournament opening contest to the top-seeded St. Joseph's by the score of 13-2 at Gregg Alfano Field on Long Island.

Freshman pitcher Tyler Stuart (Palm Coast, Fla./Matanzas) got the start and allowed one run on three hits, while striking out seven batters as he did not factor into the decision.
 
At the plate, senior Joe Longo (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) led the team with three hits, including his team-leading fifth home run of the season. Seniors Matthew Sollin (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) and Albert Doerbecker (Point Lookout, N.Y./Long Beach) also collected hits, as did junior Paul Woodburn (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown). Freshman Chris Deddo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) also reached base twice on a pair of walks and scored a run.
 
Maritime got off to a torrid start as Deddo led off the contest with a walk, up next was Longo, who sent the ball sailing over the left field fence to put the Privateers ahead by a pair of runs. His home run was the fifth of the season, tying him on the single-season home run list with Matthew Cresswell '09, who had five round-trippers in both 2008 and 2009.
 
Stuart came out to the mound and allowed only one hit over the first two innings to keep the Golden Eagles at bay. St. Joseph's loaded the bases in the third inning, but Stuart was able to get out of the frame unscathed.
 
Deddo reached again as he got on base in the top of the fifth with a one out walk, followed by Longo getting on base with an infield single, but the offense was unable to get the timely hit to add insurance runs.
 
Stuart came back out on the mound and allowed the first two batters to reach with a walk and a hit batter. After a bunt and another walk, Stuart got the second out of the inning with his seventh strikeout of the contest. He then hit the next batter to force home a run, but left the bases loaded as he got the next Golden Eagle on a hard comebacker to the mound.
 
Freshman Anthony D'Ancona (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) came on in relief of Stuart in the sixth inning looking to hold on to the one-run lead, however the Golden Eagles took their first lead of the game with six runs on four hits in the inning. Freshman Brian Hughes (Maspeth, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) came on with one out in the frame and allowed two inherited runners to score before ending the inning with a popup.
 
Senior James Very (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) was next out of the bullpen and didn't have the best of luck either as he yielded three runs on three hits and a pair of walks in the seventh as St. Joseph's took a 10-2 lead.
 
The Privateers got two men on base in the top of the eighth inning with a pair of errors in the field, but failed to chip away at the lead with the third out coming by way of a groundout. Senior Ryan Heizman (Commack, N.Y./Commack) was up next and allowed three more runs on three hits, as the Golden Eagles opened up a 13-2 lead.
 
Maritime was unable to get a base runner in the top of the ninth inning as St. Joseph's picked up the win by a 13-2 final score.
 
In total, Stuart got through the first five innings and allowed just one run on three hits. D'Ancona got touched up for six runs, while Hughes allowed one hit and retired a pair to finish off the sixth. Very and Heizman both allowed three runs in their respective innings on the mound.
 
In game two of the afternoon, second-seeded Old Westbury knocked off third-seeded Farmingdale by a 2-1 score. As the winners of the Friday games, St. Joseph's (20-15, 13-1 Skyline) and Old Westbury (23-8, 10-4 Skyline) will play at 10 a.m. on Saturday with the winner advancing to championship Sunday.
 
Maritime (12-17, 7-7 Skyline) will meet Farmingdale  (16-16, 8-6 Skyline) in the first elimination game at approximately 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, with the winner moving on to play at 4 p.m. on Saturday against the loser of the St. Joseph's-Old Westbury contest in the second elimination game of the weekend.