North Babylon head baseball coach James Mango knew going into the season that he would have a competitive team, but his expectations were exceeded.

The Bulldogs finished the season with the program's first Suffolk County title, an unprecedented three All- County players and tied the team record with 19 wins.

North Babylon lost to Massapequa, 8-3, in the Class AA Long Island Championship, after beating Longwood, 3-2, then 6-5, in the Suffolk County double elimination tournament.

Eliminating Longwood was a daunting task, since the Lions had knocked off Patchogue-Medford and Ward Melville, two potent teams.

"Everybody knew what we wanted to do," said senior centerfielder/pitcher Kyle Olsen. "The Longwood wins meant our team was for real and could get it done when we needed to get it done."

Against Massapequa, North Babylon trailed 4-3 in the fifth inning, but had the wind taken out of its sails when Tom Pinolla hit into a 4-6-3 double play. The Chiefs went on to score another run in the sixth when the Bulldogs made two errors and then three more runs in the seventh.

"All five of our playoff wins we trailed at some point," Mango said. "Every game was a rally. We just couldn't get over the hump against Massapequa."

Olsen, who is headed to Briarcliffe on a baseball scholarship, led the ball club offensively with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. He hit .500 in the playoffs and was named MVP of the Suffolk County tournament.

Senior catcher Kevin Primm led the team in overall hitting with a .459 average in the regular season. He had a .588 on-base percentage and will play at Ithaca College next season.

Leadoff hitter Danny Muller, who will play at Suffolk County Community College West next season, hit .350 and had an on-base percentage of .500.

Olsen, Muller and Primm were All-County selections.

Farmingdale College bound Anthony Repetto hit .443 in the regular season and was tied for the team lead with five wins on the mound.

Mike Pinolla also had five victories and will join his brother Tom on the baseball team at SUNY New Paltz next season.

Mango said Lou Galioto, John Cotter and Ciwan McCoy were all key facets of the club this year. McCoy, who will play college football at C.W. Post, drove in the tying runs against Longwood in the playoffs and hit a home run in the Long Island title game.