​As Enzo Nicastro stepped to the plate in the second inning, his teammates shouted a message to him: “Take out your anger on the ball.” Nicastro listened and delivered, ripping an RBI double to left-center for Carbino Club/Archbald’s first run. He added two more RBIs in an eight-run third inning, a surge highlighted by Elio Brunori’s grand slam, as Carbino Club/Archbald cruised to an 11-0 mercy-rule victory in four innings over Green Ridge to capture the District 32 Majors Baseball championship Saturday at Blakely Borough Recreational Complex. “Nobody works harder than us,” Carbino coach Randy Sashko said. “If they play to a standard and not a scoreboard and they just give us two hours of their best, we’re going to walk away with a W. They do that and they’re starting to trust it, they’re starting to believe in it, they’re starting to play as a team, which is scary. I feel like they’re just starting to click.” With the win, Carbino advances to the Section 5 tournament and will face the District 31 champion—either GPA or Back Mountain—on Saturday at 4 p.m. at a site to be announced.
Kody Malinowski began the bottom of the second with a dribbler to third that beat the throw to first, then he beat the throw to second on an error and moved to third on the play. Nicastro followed by lining the first pitch he saw to left-center and scoring Malinowski for a 1-0 lead. Rocco Forgione then drew a walk, Brunori struck out, and Chase Bauer lined a single to center to load the bases with one out. Jacob Luchansky was hit by a pitch to score Nicastro, and after Maddox Sashko hit into a fielder’s choice, Kaden Pizzola drew a seven-pitch walk to bring home Bauer for a 3-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the third, with one out and the bases loaded, Nicastro delivered again, poking a single to center on a pitch on the outer edge for an RBI that scored Mason Buczynski and Bryce Warnetsky, extending the lead to 5-0. Nicastro finished the game 2-for-2 with three RBIs and two runs. Sashko also made sure to acknowledge Nicastro’s defense, praising a sharp catch by Nicastro on Christian Liuzzo’s liner to center that would have produced a run in the first inning. “He is our leader in the outfield,” Coach Sashko said. “He is one of our rock-solid hitters in the middle of our lineup. If you need a guy to drive in a run, you want Nicastro at the plate.”
Forgione followed Nicastro’s RBI single by drawing his second walk of the game to load the bases again before Brunori expanded the margin with a towering shot to center, giving Carbino a 9-0 cushion. “I literally said to Rocco (Forgione) on first, ‘Elio’s taking him yard right here. I’m calling it,’” Randy Sashko said. “I’ve coached Elio for years, and it’s been fun to watch him grow—very quickly, by the way. He’s super talented, and he’s one of the easiest kids to coach and work with, and he’s just awesome.” Silas Wilson walked with the bases loaded, and Talon Prutzman reached on a fielder’s choice to cap the scoring in the 11-0 victory.