(Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on April 14, 2018.)
In a makeup game, the West Islip Lions defeat the North Babylon Bulldogs 15-6.
Fordham-commit Jake Guercio went 3-for-3 with a three-run home run, three RBI and two stolen bases. West Islip improves to 6-2 while North Babylon falls to 5-3. Jordan Piht gets the win for West Islip while Evan Christopher earns the loss for North Babylon.
“I don’t think the score was really indicative of the game,” says West Islip head coach Shawn Rush. “We had some big hits in some big spots…Any time you get out of North Babylon with a victory is a good day,” he added.
West Islip got the scoring started early, with Jimmy Loeffler driving in Guercio on a RBI double. Senior Anthony Ippolito would drive in Loeffler on a double in the next at-bat.
“[It was a] hard fought battle. We hit the ball well today,” said Guercio.
“[Ippolito] is an experienced baseball player that knows what he’s doing,” said Rush. “You saw why Jake [Guercio] is a division-one kid…just a selfless, smart baseball player that he is, he tries to bunt and move a runner over. That’s the kind of teammate he is.”
North Babylon answered back in the second inning, as Ross Tallarico smacked a two-run home run to left to tie the game 2-2.
The tie wouldn’t stand for long, as West Islip scored three runs in the top of the third. Ippolito drove in Guercio on a safety squeeze and Bobby DiCapua notched a two-RBI single.
The Lions added to their lead with a three-run home run by Guercio in the top of the fifth inning. “I knew they were going to come at me a little bit. I just sat on the pitch,” said Guercio.
The Bulldogs plated six runs in the bottom of the fifth. North Babylon’s Brian Primm hit a two-run home run off the top of the fence in left-center to cut the deficit to 8-4. After hitting a double and advancing to third on a wild pitch, Junior Nick Burke scored on a wild pitch. Junior Evan Christopher drove in classmate Brett Schulteisz on a RBI single to make it 8-6. North Babylon’s offense would fail to score after the fifth.
West Islip’s Anthony Cinquemani smashed a solo home run to left to lead of the sixth. The Lions tallied another run with a RBI single by Michael Badala to make it 10-6.
West Islip notched five runs with three hits, and a few errors by North Babylon, in the seventh to finish the game at 15-6.
