Aces ruled last week and runs were a rare commodity as state-ranked No. 7 Mahopac and No. 16 Horace Greeley split their home-and-home showdown before the Wolf Pac fell at Rye, 6-5, on May 2.
Against Greeley, Mahopac struck first on April 29 with a 2–0 win behind its unquestioned ace, Wagner-bound Nick Masciarelli. The Quakers answered on May 1 with a 5–2 victory powered by their own future Division I arm, Delaware-bound Zach Bond.
With both right-handers touching 90 mph, hitters were in survival mode for much of the series. Masciarelli set the tone with a complete-game one-hitter, lowering his team-best ERA to 0.62. If not for Ben Lederman’s first-inning single, Masciarelli would have authored perfection; after that lone blemish, he was untouchable, carving through the Quaker lineup with total command.
Masciarelli faced 22 batters on the day, walked none and whiffed 13. Run support was tough to come by against Greeley lefty Joe McGuire, who was dialed in as well. All-NYS C Drew Lichtenberger lifted a pair of run-scoring sacrifice flies for the 2025 sectional runners-up Wolf Pac (9-5 as of May 4) in the win against the Quakers (11-3).
The two clubs may have set the stage for what could be a Class AA sectional tournament rematch.
Wolf Pac SS Vince Cataldo and OF Lorenzo Enchandy scored the game’s only runs, but that was all Masciarelli would need in a season in which he has been as dominant as any pitcher in Class AA.
“I would say that we had a game plan to just go attack hitters out the gate, and before the game I felt that if I was able to execute pitches and throw strikes it would be a good day for me,” Masciarelli said. “During every at-bat I felt that I had the upper hand, and I was able to find each hitter’s weakness and abuse it. They are a very good team but me, Drew, and Coach Paul (Mayer) were all working together and we were able to do what we thought we should do against them.”
Yet the loss to the Quakers in the next meeting didn’t sit well with a Wolf Pac that has endured a recent 4-5 stretch against some tough competition (Arlington and RCK included).
“Greeley is a good team, but we are not happy with the split, we practically handed them the win with walks in the first, but it can be viewed in a good way,” Lichtenberger said. “We realize that we are better than most teams and when we make them put the ball in play and throw strikes, we don’t lose.
“That’s one of the reasons why Nick is so successful,” Lichtenberger added. “If you watch him pitch, he is always getting ahead and rarely walking guys. This is a good learning moment as we hit the final stretch and get ready for playoffs. Our pitching staff is great and they work hard. When we put it all together, we are going to be a team you do not want to face.”
Mahopac could only scratch a couple of runs against Bond (5 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 5 K). Matt Bentivenga’s double drove home the Wolf Pac’s only earned run. Mascoll and Orion Ortiz each reached on singles to score.
The Pac went into the Greeley series with some momentum, hanging an 11-1 defeat on visiting Lakeland on April 27. Starting pitcher Jeremy O’Keefe looked every bit the part of what was expected from him. After struggling with some control issues early on, O’Keefe delivered a big-time effort against a surging Hornet club. He was also solid in 1.2 innings of relief in the Wolf Pac’s 6-5 loss to host Rye on May 2.
“O’Keefe was great against Lakeland and Rye, would love to see that the rest of the way through,” Nappi said.
Wolf Pac sophomore Michael D’Amore started against Rye and will be highly relied upon down the stretch after a solid outing.
“D’Amore also threw great today, got a little unlucky in the last inning he threw, which skewed his final line,” Nappi said. “He went through that gauntlet of a lineup but four innings of two-run ball before he caught a couple of bad breaks is something we can live with. I like to tell the kids, even-keel wins and losses… never too high… never too low.”
At the time of writing, Lichtenberger’s 1.397 OPS (0.463 OBP, 0.933 slugging percentage) led the team, while Masciarelli was leading the staff with 34 innings pitched to go with his microscopic ERA.
Junior Jake Cotter (2 hits vs. Rye) has played three positions for the Wolf Pac, primarily right field, and has driven in three runs, including one with two outs.
Senior 1B Bentivenga and junior IF Ortiz have been inserted into the starting lineup and both have provided a spark.
Nate Mascoll got it going as well. In a recent two-game stretch the All-Section CF hit .571 with three doubles, a homer, three runs scored and four RBI while playing standout defense #MorePlease.
The Wolf Pac was scheduled to visit New Rochelle on May 4 before a home-and-home set with rival Carmel on May 5 and 7 and another with Brewster May 9-11, when the league title will likely be on the line.
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