by Frank Farnacci
Vanderbilt-commit Matt Hogan led Half Hollow Hills East over Riverhead, 7-0, this afternoon with a dominating pitching performance. Hogan threw six innings of shutout ball striking out eleven while surrendering only three hits.
“Another great effort from Matt today”, said Hills East Manager Tim Belz. “He had good command of his off speed and fastball. He got ahead. We made a couple of errors that could have resulted in runs, but he settled down and got us out of it each time”.
Hills East set the pace with single runs in the second and third innings. In the second, John Son reached and advanced to second on an error. He scored on Vin Muraco’s single to left. In the third, Reis Henderson led off with a walk, stole second and advanced the third on Matt Hogan’s sac fly to deep right field. Eric Tow then doubled down the third base line plating Henderson.
Hills East broke it open in the home half of the fifth with Hogan leading off with a walk. He would steal second and advance to third on a throwing error. Eric Tow walked and subsequently stole second. With runners on second and third, Jacob Brigati dropped down a squeeze bunt that Hogan would beat home with Brigati safe at first. Tow then scored on a misplayed drive to right field off the bat of John Son that landed him at second. Brigati would score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Vin Muraco.
Part of what makes Hogan a special player is his ability to elevate his game when the situation calls for it. In the third and fourth innings, he persevered to get out of both innings with runners in scoring position. In the top of the sixth, Riverhead was poised to break through. After a leadoff walk, a single and an error resulted in second and third with no outs, Hogan struck out the next two batters and got a ground out to first to end the threat.
Hills East would plate two more runs in the bottom of the sixth after Nick Gavilla and Reis Henderson were hit by pitches to start the half inning. Gavilla scored after a double steal with a throwing error and Henderson scored after a base hit by Jacob Brigati.
Steve Mariani would preserve the shut out for Hills East pitching the seventh inning. Nick Dejewski put in an admirable effort for Riverhead pitching five innings.
Hills East improves to 8-7 on the season, they are two wins away from returning to the postseason. Riverhead falls to 2-13 on the season.
