Harry Katz and Fleet Bank, who tied for first place in the MAA major division, won their first-round playoff games and were to have met last week in the best-of-three finals.

Fleet Bank, managed by Mike DeStefano, finished 10-5 in the regular season but lost all three games against Harry Katz, managed by Rick Masso. Harry Katz was 9-6. The teams had a fourth scheduled meeting wiped out by rain. Rather than replay it, the managers and league officials agreed to declare the teams co-champions so both would receive first place trophies. Fleet Bank was seeded first for the playoffs, Harry Katz second.

The playoffs were supposed to have been double-elimination but when rain postponed both teams' first-round games, it was decided that the first round would be single-elimination to avoid conflicts with the district tournament.

Harry Katz beat Barron Body Works 3-2 in its' first-round game. Fleet Bank beat Smith & DeGroat 6-1. In the Harry Katz game, Peter Smith got the win in relief of Keith Masso. Smith struck out 10, walked two and allowed one hit and no runs in four innings.

Harry Katz scored twice in the bottom of the first. Smith doubled home Michael Bencivenga with the first run and Tom Niemczyk, who had singled, scored the second run on Tom Oswald's sacrifice fly. After Barron tied it at 2 in the top of the second, Niemczyk walked, stole second, moved to third on Smith's ground out and scored when Oswald reached on a fielder's choice. Bencivenga made several good catches at second base and got two hits.

Fleet Bank pitcher Steve Miller went all the way against Smith & DeGroat and was supported by Matt Jetter's three-run homer.

In its last seven regular-season games. Fleet Bank:

* Lost 6-2 to Harry Katz: Fleet mustered four hits- two by Jetter and one each by Miller and Madji Razick, who hit his second homer of the season.

* Lost 4-3 to Harry Katz: Pitchers Miller and Derek Webber kept the score close. Mike DeStefano and Ben Volino had two hits each. Jetter, Webber and Tom Marron had one each. Rich Marron, Mark Lupo and Anthony Allegra made nice catches in the outfield.

* Beat Smith & DeGroat 6-3: Miller and Webber scattered four hits and struck out 10. Jetter, Razick and Mike Lombardi had two hits each. DeStefano, the Marron brothers, Volino and Allegra had one each. So did call-up Kevin Tiseo. Jetter, Razick, Lombardi and the Marron brothers had RBI. Catcher Volino threw out three runners. Allegra made a nice catch in center. Fleet turned its fifth double play of the season.

* Lost 7-4 to Chamber of Commerce: pitchers DeStafano and Miller combined to allow seven hits while striking out 11. Webber had two hits and two RBI.

* Beat Chamber of Commerce 16-4: Tom Marron (three hits, a homer and five RBI), Volino (four hits, a homer and two RBI), Webber (a homer), Rich Marron (a hit, two RBI), DeStefano ( a hit, two RBI) and Lombardi (a hit, two RBI) led a 13-hit attack. Jetter and Webber pitched.

* Beat Barron Body Works 11-5: Miller and DeStefano had three hits each and Miller drove in four runs as Fleet clinched first place. Tom Marron had two hits and an RBI. Webber drove in three runs, Volino two and Jetter one. Jetter and Webber held Barron to six hits and struck out 10.

* Lots 5-4 to Harry Katz: Miller and Jetter allowed only five hits. DeStefano and Jetter had two hits each and combined to drive in three runs. Rich Marron, Volino and Lupo made good defensive plays.

In its last three regular-season wins, Harry Katz:

* Beat Chamber of Commerce 11-4: Niemczyk and Oswald each had bases-loaded triples. Jason Vega had two hits and Bencivenga two. Pitchers Masso, Smith and Kevin McPhillips combined to allow four hits.

* Beat Smith & DeGroat, 17-3: Oswald had three hits, Bencivenga, Niemczyk, Smith and Peter Marson had two each. Vega, McPhillips and Chris Williams had one each.

* Beat Fleet Bank, 5-4: Smith supplied his first Little League home run, a three-run shot off his friend Jetter, as Harry Katz won its eighth game in its last 10. Masso closed out the game with three scoreless innings in relief, striking out six and allowing one hit. Marson made a game-saving catch on a line drive up the middle with two men on in the fifth.

In the majors all-star game on June 14, the west beat the east, 12-3, helped by good defense and the pitching of Jetter, Masso, Danny Medlock, Miller and Webber. Miller had two hits and one RBI for the west. Bencivenga, DeStefano, Jetter, Marson, Masso and Niemczyk had one each. Jetter, Marson and Niemczyk each drove in two runs. The east was led by James Holubowich and Robert Wong, who had two hits apiece. Brendan Canavan, Kevin Cusker and Chris Murphy had one hit each.

The Mineola Red Heat found competition in division 5 of the Long Island Junior Soccer League much tougher than division 6. The Red Heat finished the spring season with a disappointing 0-5-4 record and will drop back to division 6 next season.

The problem faced by coach Vito Errico and assistant Jim Smith was that many of the players were in involved in multiple activities and soccer was the first priority for perhaps one-third of them. Errico conducted tryouts last week and is seeking to recruit soccer-first players from within and outside Mineola.

The team showed flashes of being competitive but had crushing laspses due to lack of commitment to training. There were a few bright spots.

* Midfielder Vito Errico and defender Ramon Valente were the most consistent players and came ready to play for every game.

* Defenders Julio Gauto and Chris McNeely and midfielder John Boland were the most-improved players.

* Goalie Brendan Canavan, sprung into the midfield late in the season, showed surprising skill and midfielder Chris Sallie showed surprising skill and midfielder Chris Sallie showed courage and a good punting foot as the backup goalie.

*Midfielder Dan Medlock, forwards Peter Marson and Robert Bridges and central defender Peter Smith were solid contributors.

The team is looking forward to the fall, when it is hoped it will have more committed players and better chemistry.

Shawn Wachter drove in two runs and Chris Orlando knocked in the other to help Astoria Federal Savings beat Install-A-Lock 3-2 to advance to the minor division championship round. Owen Reill's excellent defensive play in the sixth sealed the win.

* * * *

The championship game of the Mineola Athletic Association Little League major division came down to one pitch and one hit.

With two strikes on him, two out and Steve Miller on base, Derek Webber homered over the center field fence off Keith Masso to give Fleet Bank a 10-9 victory over Harry Katz in the bottom of the seventh inning on June 27.

Fleet Bank, managed by Mike DeStefano, won the best-of-three championship playoff series two games to one. Harry Katz, managed by Rick Masso, was 3-0 against Fleet Bank in the regular season. The teams were division champions.

Fleet Bank won game 1 of the playoff series 5-3 behind pitcher Matt Jetter's complete game and a four-run third inning which included two unearned runs. Webber singled home a run and Jetter drove in another with a ground out. Peter Smith was three-for-three for Harry Katz with a double and a triple, driving in one run and scoring the other two.

In Game 2, Harry Katz won 5-3. Smith pitched his first place game ever, striking out 12, walking four and allowing eight hits, including Webber's solo homer in the bottom of the sixth.

Game 3 was a classic. Harry Katz scored three runs off Jetter in the top of the first. Mike Bencivenga and Peter Marson singled, each stole a base and scored on Tom Niemczyk's double. Smith, playing with a sprained neck, singled home Niemczyk. In the third, Tom Oswald doubled home Marson to make it 4-0.

Fleet Bank came back with seven runs off Kevin McPhillips in the third. Webber had a two-run single. Jetter stroked an infield hit that delivered a run. Tom Marron and Ben Volino supplied back-to-back run-scoring triples as Fleet Bank went ahead 7-4.

Harry Katz rebounded with four runs in the top of the fourth to go back in front 8-7. Bencivenga, Marson and Niemczyk had run-scoring hits. Webber tied it at 8 in the bottom of the fifth, when he led off with a triple and scored on an error. It was the only hit allowed by Harry Katz reliever Keith Masso in a span of four full innings. Masso struck out eight in that period.

Meanwhile, Webber also was sharp in relief. He struck out the side in the fifth and struck out two in the sixth, allowing no hits in either inning. In the top of the seventh, however, Marson singled to center off him and Niemczyk walked. Smith hit a grounder to short. Jetter threw to third to force out Marson on a close play. Niemczyk and Smith moved up a base on Oswald's grounder to Webber for the second out. Niemczyk scored on Webber's wild pitch to put Harry Katz ahead 9-8. With Smith on third, Webber struck out McPhillips to end the inning. Webber redeemed himself fo the wild pitch with his dramatic homer.

League President John Strein presented trophies to each team and commended all the players and coaches for being good sports. It was Little League baseball the way it ought to be.