[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReCJjUcgqkw]
By Jim Ferchland
Smithtown East hosted Half Hollow Hills West in a sensational playoff match up between two terrific teams that resulted in the Bulls triumphing 8-6.
Hills West put up six runs in the first inning which certainly put a damper on the home crowd but the home town nine responded immediately with the bats.
Hills West dominated the first half inning scoring with patience and persistence. Smithtown East’s struggled with his command and was lifted after one out was recorded. Coach Ken Klee decided to go towards his solid left-handed pitcher senior Greg Maitles who came in and put out the fire.
He did allow Josh Wende to smack a double over the head of Smithtown East’s junior outfielder Shawn Kelly and drove in two runs to give them a comfortable 6-0 lead.
“It definitely lit a fire under our butts”, Kelly said after the game.
Smithtown East kept their heads up despite the early deficit and made their presence known by scoring four runs in the bottom half of the first. The rally was keyed by senior first baseman Matt Milne who ripped a two-run double in the gap putting Smithtown East’s first runs on the board. Then, the barrage continued with RBI’s from juniors Ryan Kushowski and John Marti.
Smithtown East was back in the game quickly and left Hills West searching for answers. Their starting pitcher, sophomore Brad Camarda struggled with Smithtown East’s scorching bats. They compiled 13 hits overall in the game and Camarda allowed 7 of them. He pitched 4.1 innings, struck out 4, walked one and yielded 7 runs.
The Bulls then trimmed deficit in the fourth inning when Shawn Kelly crushed an RBI double to deep-center easily getting over the head of Josh Wende driving in senior Dylan Vetter. Kelly had a productive game going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. He said that it was the hit that ‘got the team going’.
In the following frame, Smithtown East took the lead for the first time and it could not have came at a better time late in the game. Smithtown East batted around received huge hits off the bats of Ryan Kushowski, John Marti and Nick Rizzo. They drove in clutch runs for Smithtown East and gave them a 8-6 lead after 5 innings.
The rest of the game lied in the fate of Smithtown’s Maitles. He took care of business throughout the game and received the victory with an impressive performance. He pitched 6.2 innings, gave up 2 runs, only struck out one but only gave up three hits.
“My curveball wasn’t as sharp as it usually was”, Maitles said after the game.” I thought I was definitely able to hit some spots with the fastball and get batters leaning out on their front foot. That was key. We all always find ways to win every game.”
Smithtown East head coach Ken Klee was very content on how his team did not lose their composure and strived their way to victory with their persistence.
“It’s just another sign of who we are”, Klee said after the game.” We have a bunch of kids that believe that we can overcome adversity. We have a magnificent group of kids that never quit.”
The Bulls will now take on Connetquot (who cruised past Hills East 11-2) in a three-game series beginning on Saturday–the Bulls are now 19-2.
