Originally published: June 19, 2010 10:29 PM
By LAURA ALBANESE   

The Suffolk County All-Stars knew the winning recipe.

A dash of solid fundamentals, a smattering of big hits and a dose of steely pitching. All of those things, plus a heavy dollop of smart hitting and costly Nassau errors, was what it took for Suffolk to mold its 8-5 victory Saturday at the Rawlings RTC Grand Slam Challenge at Farmingdale State College.

Down 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Suffolk scored three runs to take a 5-4 lead. The big hit was an RBI triple to left by Patchogue-Medford's Joe Pasqualino.

Westhampton's Mark Podlas led off the inning with a double to the wall in leftfield off Wantagh righthander Matt Dybus. An infield single by Connetquot's Kenny Jackson put runners at the corners for Southampton's Chris Pike, who hit a sacrifice fly to right. Pasqualino's triple tied it, and he scored on an errant relay throw to third to give Suffolk the 5-4 lead.

"It was a huge honor to play with everyone," said Pike, who was named Suffolk's MVP. "Some people say that [Southampton's] league is weak, but with me and [Tyler] Badamo here, we proved it isn't."

Suffolk tacked on three runs in the fifth against Kellenberg's Kevin McCarthy. Pike belted a two-run double and Suffolk scored its third run of the inning on an infield error. Pike went 1-for-3 with three RBIs. Jackson scored twice.

The Grand Slam Challenge, now in its sixth year, is held to benefit the Ryan T. Caufield Foundation for Lupus Research. The nonprofit is named for the Bethpage Diamond Award winner who died from complications of lupus in 2000.

Suffolk took a 1-0 lead on a first-inning single by Lindenhurst's Jon McGibbon. Nassau answered with a run-scoring single by Wantagh's Mike Addeo. Suffolk scored again in the second when Podlas scored on an infield error.

In the fourth, Island Trees' Bryan Verbitsky hit a two-run, opposite-field single off Longwood's Brandon McClain to give Nassau a 4-2 lead. With one out and none on, Clarke's Ryan Sloane tripled to left and scored on McClain's wild pitch. The next two batters, Division's Mike Cruz and Manhasset's Matt Demitroff, walked to set the stage for Verbitsky, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

"Losing isn't something I like,'' said Oyster Bay's Dan Roland, who was 2-for-2. "But today's game was for a good cause, so I'll excuse it.''

"It's exciting to end your high school career with a bunch of great players like this," said Verbitsky, who was named Nassau's MVP. "I already knew most of them from summer ball, but it was fun ending with them."