You could not have asked for a better series to start the season.

In the opening matchup of the league campaign, the Chaminade Flyers and Holy Trinity Titans played to two of what might wind up being the best finishes of the year, with each coming down to the last batter.

In game one, the Titans survived a late Flyers rally to win 3-2; in game two, the Flyers pulled through on a late comeback to win 4-3 in 10 innings. 

The first game at Moriches Sports Complex was part of the NSCHSAA Opening Day event. Toeing the rubber for the Flyers was Kenneth Meliere Jr. '25. In his initial start of the year, he took the loss to Iona Prep, giving up two runs (one earned) over two innings.

The Titans countered with hard-throwing righty Victor Acosta, making his first appearance of the year.

The Flyers jumped out to an immediate 1-0 lead in the top of the first against the junior Acosta. Leadoff hitter Collin Anderson '25 smoked a two-strike triple to right field to start the rally, and Colin Cashin '25 drove him home with a productive groundout.

It would not take very long for the Titans to respond, as they played some second-inning small ball to take the lead. Dom Longardino - in his first at-bat for Holy Trinity after transferring from East Meadow - started the inning by lining a double, and SJ Garneau followed with a base hit of his own to give the Titans runners on the corners with one out. Next up was catcher Aidan Glynn, who bounced out to second but drove home the run. With Garneau now in scoring position, number-nine hitter Pat Annello knocked one into right to cash in the run and give the home team a one-run advantage in this neutral site game.

After the triple to Anderson, Acosta settled in nicely, retiring the next seven hitters. The Flyers raised a threat in the third thanks to a double by Danny Nawrocki '25 and a walk by Anderson, but Acosta worked his way out of the jam by inducing Jake Madsen '26 into a pop out and Cashin into another groundout.

The Flyers finally put together a strong rally in the top of the fifth, tying the game at two. Michael Gardner '25 led off with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on a TJ Bradford '25 base knock. 

The game stayed this way until the sixth, when the Titans capitalized on a crucial Chaminade mistake. With pinch runner Johnny Hernandez at second, Joey Maxwell bunted back to new Chaminade pitcher Andrew Caramico '26, who sailed the throw to first, allowing Hernandez to score and putting Holy Trinity up a run. They nearly added a second tally on another error, but Maxwell was thrown out at home.

This set the stage for a dramatic top of the seventh in which John Perino, in his second inning of relief for the Titans, looked to close the game out. He got the first two hitters relatively easily, but back-to-back hits by Anderson and Madsen got Cashin to the plate for a fourth time.

During the at-bat, an error by Perino got both runners into scoring position. With the count 1-2, Cashin poked a ball down to Longardino at first. After bobbling it initially, he fed Perino on the run, who just barely beat Cashin to the bag for the final out.

The Flyers bench erupted in disagreement at the call, but nonetheless, the Titans held on and secured the win, 3-2. 

"We didn't execute," stated Chaminade head coach Patrick Kemp '04. "That's been the M.O. for the first four games that we've played. We have not executed when given the opportunity, whether it's baserunning or whether it's having productive, quality at-bats."

However, the Flyers got a chance to redeem themselves the next day to split the two-game set at Cantiague Park. Chaminade sent out Carlos Pereira '26 to make his first varsity start, while the Titans went with senior Joey LaScala.

The Titans had the first opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Glynn ripped a double to center field, but Garneau, who was hustling around the diamond from first, made a brutal baserunning blunder coming around third, allowing Madsen to receive the relay throw, chase him down, and tag him out to keep the road team off the scoreboard.

The game continued to quietly until the top of the fourth, when Holy Trinity drew first blood thanks to a clutch RBI double by Maxwell, a line drive that fell just in between Cashin and Nawrocki in the outfield. 

LaScala dominated the Flyers into the fifth, but the home team used some small ball to knot up the game.

Cashin reached first via hit-by-pitch, then immediately stole second to get into scoring position. However, he was a little banged up after that sequence, leading to his replacement by Gardner. After Nolan Fernandez '26 moved Gardner to third with a sacrifice, a passed ball allowed the speedy Gardner to scamper home, thus drawing the Flyers even. 

Both starting pitchers worked extremely efficiently on Wednesday afternoon, each tossing five innings of one-run ball. The pair allowed a combined five hits and racked up a total of 10 K's.

"[Pereira] is calm, cool, and collected," reflected Kemp after his pitcher's strong outing. "He does not shrink under pressure, as they would say. The moment's never too big. He exudes confidence, and that's something that other pitchers notice."

The rest of regulation was filled with missed opportunities by both squads. In the top of the sixth, new pitcher Alex Stoyer '25 induced Garneau into a groundout to strand runners on second and third. In the bottom of the inning, Matt Czyz, head coach Dan Luisi's first choice out of the bullpen, held Anderson at third by consecutively striking out Vaughan Steinert '26 and Daniel Anicito '25, electrifying the Titans dugout in the process.

In the top of the seventh, Stoyer sidestepped some trouble by picking off Glynn at second. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Czyz dispatched Dimitri Staphos '25 with a man in scoring position, sending the game to extras. 

The Titans manufactured a major threat to start the eighth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Glynn with one gone, but Stoyer reared back and struck him out for the second out. Annello then popped the next offering to Nawrocki in center, allowing Stoyer to get through the inning unscathed. 

The big righty worked around six walks to finish three scoreless innings, much to the delight of the Chaminade coaching staff. 

After another efficient inning by Czyz, the Titans threatened again; this time, however, they broke through. Quinn Gillen '25 found himself in immediate trouble thanks to two walks, and Acosta made him pay by stroking one into the left-centerfield gap, scoring Jaden Alvarez from third and Christian Poveda from second to make the score 3-1.  

With their backs against the wall and Czyz looking to close the door, the Flyers responded with an exclamation point.

Anicito led off with a line-drive single up the middle, and, with one out, Gardner hit an absolute no-doubter to left field to tie the game. The team poured out of the dugout as he rounded the bases and congratulated him upon touching home.

The Flyers had found new life, as the game was squared at three.

Despite the blown save, it was a remarkable performance out of the 'pen from Czyz. He racked up a game-high nine strikeouts over his four innings of work, throwing 76 pitches. 

The theatrics did not stop there. The Titans offense was relentless, yet patient at the plate, loading the bases off three more walks by Gillen.

A pair of strikeouts brought the game down to a battle between Acosta and Gillen. To the surprise of no one, the matchup ended in a full count, with Gillen executing a perfect slider to freeze Acosta for strike three. 

"I went with the slider last pitch for two reasons," explained Gillen. "First, because I knew the batter wouldn't expect it. Secondly, it's a pitch I know I can land if I stay true to my mechanics. The slider has always been a pitch I rely on when the fastball isn't as consistent as I would like."

Finally, after a marathon of a game, the Crimson and Gold broke through in the last of the tenth.

Anderson was hit by a pitch and reached third with two gone. Facing a 2-1 count, Anicito cracked a two-seamer from Garneau up the middle to win the game - his third hit of the contest.

When the ball reached the outfield turf, Anicito leapt in the air in excitement, soon to be swarmed by his ecstatic teammates. 

"It was an incredible feeling," said Anicito after the game.  "We've had a few tough losses early on and a lot of breaks that fell the other way. I think it was really special for our team (and Coach Kemp) to get our first win with a game like that."

"Danny epitomizes that type of leadership role," said Kemp of Anicito. "It doesn't matter if he's going to be the DH, it doesn't matter if he's going to be in the field, it doesn't matter if he's coming off the bench. Kids look at him as that spark, that positivity."

This was an important victory for the Flyers, avoiding a sweep in the first series of the year, but it might also provide a spark going forward:

"This is going to be a jumping off point, as our team goes into our next games with confidence high," remarked Gillen.

Kemp added with one word to describe the W: "Huge."

The Flyers now look forward to next week, with the headlining games coming via a two-game set with the high-flying St. Dominic's Bayhawks on April 1 and 2. First pitch for both games is set for 4:30 at Wang Athletic Complex.