Everything clicking for Citrangola, first-place Ospreys

Joey Citrangola said that he spent close to two years recovering from Tommy John surgery, an ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction. For the right-hander from Miller Place, that episode is in the past. He’s more concerned about the present and the future.

He has acquitted himself quite well for the North Fork Ospreys during this Hampton Collegiate Baseball League season. Citrangola has pitched at least four innings in each of his three starts, securing a 2-0 record and a 3.95 earned run average.

The 6-foot-5, 185-pound player took another important step forward with his longest outing since returning to the mound. He hurled five innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run in the Ospreys’ 4-2 win over the South Shore Clippers at William Floyd High School in Shirley on a relatively cool Friday evening.

“I mean, Joey Citrangola has been phenomenal for us so far,” manager Vinnie Morelli said.

Citrangola pitched four times for Herkimer County Community College in upstate New York this spring, throwing four innings in each start. He posted a 4-0 record with a 2.25 ERA. 

“He’s kind of breaking out of his shell a little bit,” Morelli said. “We’re trying to get him past that four-inning mark. He’s throwing really well. When he’s in the zone, he’s all elbows and knees flying at you. He’s tough to hit. His fastball has got good stuff to it. He’s been unbelievable.”

Citrangola was in the zone on Thursday. He struck out three and walked one. “The sinker was just running in on righties and running on front hip on lefties,” he said. “It was working all day.”

In fact, Citrangola’s sinker worked to perfection in the opening 3 1/3 innings. He retired his first 10 of 11 batters as Anthony Armenia reached base on a first-inning ground-ball error. Eight outs were ground balls. The other two were a strikeout and an easy pop-up to second base. He threw 75 pitches, 48 for strikes.

Citrangola was forced to undergo surgery on his right arm after high school, delaying his start into college baseball. “I got the internal braces,” he said. “It wasn’t really like anything hurt. It was just uncomfortable. I got it and then [after] rehab … I came back better than I was.”

So far, so good.

Unlike many of his teammates, Citrangola doesn’t reside on the North Fork during the summer. He lives at home, some 31 miles west on the north shore with his parents, who attended Friday’s game.

“It’s nice, but also it’s hard hanging out with all the guys off the field,” he said. “It’s an hour drive [to Peconic for home games]. But it’s definitely a blessing. I don’t live with my family all year, because I’m at school.”

Citrangola felt at home until the fourth inning, when the Clippers scored twice — by Anthony Armenia on the front end of a double steal and on Larry Hotaling’s run-scoring single.

Clippers right-handed starter Sebastian Lippman, struck out the first five batters in his two-inning stint.

The Ospreys broke through for three runs against lefty reliever and Calverton native Mark Gajowski in the fourth. Nick Pratt’s single drove in James Fagnant. Thomas Matuszewski smacked a double to left center that hit and fence and just missed going out, driving in two runs of his three RBIs on the day.

The visitors added an insurance run against Dominic Carleo in the sixth. Steven Kienzle ripped a one-out double to right, advanced to third on a ground out before scoring on Matuszewski’s single.

Diego Reilly-Bell threw two shutout innings for the save. The Fordham University freshman did not allow a hit, walking two and striking out the side in the seventh.

“He did a really good job, not trying to do too much and just getting the job done,” Morelli said.

As the season moves closer to its midway point, the first-place Ospreys (10-4-1, 21 points) lead the Southampton Breakers (8-6-2, 18) by three points through Monday. The Clippers (5-9-0, 10) are in sixth place. The league awards two points for a win and one for a tie. Games are seven innings.

“Offensively, good enough,” Morelli said. “We’ve been kind of struggling a little bit the last couple of days. I told them the other day, ‘You just got to score more than the other team.’ They don’t have to put up a million. As long as they’re just putting up more than them.”