North Babylon Head Coach Steve Corrado on the Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo Fundraiser Game against West Babylon pic.twitter.com/PTgS1UNKhU
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 6, 2018
The North Babylon Bulldogs notched a 6-4 rivalry win over the Eagles of West Babylon on Saturday night in the Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo Memorial Game.
Sgt. Tuozzolo was an NYPD officer who was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 4, 2016 and is survived by his wife Lisa, a North Babylon alumnus, and their two sons – the youngest of which threw out the first pitch.
Each team came together to host a friendly rivalry game at the West Babylon Youth Center in Tuozzolo’s, and used the scrimmage opportunity to call upon some reserves to contribute.
Bobby Adamis got the start for West Babylon, but was pulled after just 2 innings. He struggled with his command on the mound as he hit a few batters, but he managed to strke out five and allowed just one hit.
North Babylon broke a scoreless contest in the third inning once Nick Romano relieved Adamis, with Brian Primm and Nick Burke knocking in back-to-back RBIs. Primm would score on an error from West Babylon’s catcher after, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
The Eagles would strike back immediately, however, after North Babylon pitcher Anthony Palumbo loaded the bases with no outs by surprisingly hitting three batters in a row. West Babylon capitalized on Palumbo’s mistake, with Romano getting back some of the runs he gave up with a 2-run single that brought the game to 3-2.
Kevin Edmonds knocked in a pair of runs himself, smashing a single to left two at-bats later, which gave the Eagles a 4-3 lead.
After giving up 4 runs over 3 innings while striking out 5, Palumbo gave way to relief pitcher Nick Picataggio, who promptly shut down the opposing offense.
Picataggio pitched the final 4 innings and struck out 6 while allowing only a pair of hits.
Burke and Primm made sure Picataggio got the run support he needed with Burke giving the Bulldogs back the lead in the fifth inning with a 2-run triple that made the score 5-4. Primm added to the lead in the sixth inning when his bases loaded walk drew a run to make the lead 6-4.
Burke finished 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs, while Primm reached first base on all 4 of his at bats, but only went 1-for-1 with 2 RBIs as he was hit by a pitch, reached on an error and drew another walk in his final at-bat.
Besides the dynamic pair, the rest of North Babylon’s offense was relatively stagnant, picking up just two hits and striking out a whopping 15 times against 5 different pitchers.
The Eagles definitely needed those strikeouts, as their fielding was poor throughout the game and they finished with 5 errors.
“It always feels good when you beat West Babylon,” Bulldogs head coach Steve Corrado said. “It’s an annual game we play, and even though it’s a scrimmage it’s a great tune up for playoffs.
“Anytime you beat West Babylon, it’s a good day.”
