Final: Bethpage 7, Wantagh 2
WP: James MartinConor Burns and Patrick Dalton had 2 RBI
Bethpage is 12-1 pic.twitter.com/CO61NWe8oc
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2021
Bethpage felt that they had one of the more talented teams entering the 2020 season – coming off a 14-inning loss against Division in the Class A semifinals – they returned much of that core and had many promising young players. Despite the cancellation of the season, they remain one of the top teams in the county and proved that with a 7-2 road win over perennial powerhouse Wantagh on Thursday.
“We’ve been pitching well all year,” said Head Coach Rob Fisher. “We’ve been attacking hitters – we’re doing a good job on the mound, so I’m happy the way my two pitchers threw today. I’m happy we’ve continued to be aggressive on the bases. I’m good with that and our defense has been solid. We haven’t really – with the exception of that one play – that’s out of the norm for us that throwing error. So I’m happy with our defense. I just wish we’d get our offense going a little quicker – we’ve kind of been playing that same game all year; pitching and defense and timely hits,” he added.
The match up against Wantagh served as a good litmus test for a Bethpage team that entered with only one loss, two games up on Wantagh in the standings. Bethpage LHP James Martin matched Wantagh RHP Andrew Bonanno with zeros for the first two innings.
Conor Burns rips an RBI single to score Patrick Dalton and Bethpage leads 2-0 pic.twitter.com/uTuGa0SwEF
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 3, 2021
In the top of the third, the Eagles struck first and they got a little good luck to get them going. Nine-hole hitter Joe Lynn appeared to strike out to start the inning but the ball hit the dirt and the throw to first eluded the first baseman so he was able to reach safely. The leadoff batter, Cortland-commit Patrick Dalton ripped a triple just inside the first base bag and went down the right field line to score Lynn. The following batter, Conor Burns drove him in with an RBI single to right. Bonanno was able to retire the next three batters to limit the damage in the inning.
The lead did not last long, though. Wantagh has always been a team to take advantage of the opposition’s errors and they did just that in the home half of the third. With two outs and nobody on, a single to left by freshman AJ Bardi. a grounder in front of the mound resulted in an E1 that allowed Bardi to come all the way around to score and Kenny Spratt moved to third on the throw. The next batter, Tim Hennig drew a walk. While at first, he drew a pickoff attempt that resulted in another E1 and another run scoring which tied the game at 2-2. Many teams have succumbed to the pressure of facing Wantagh, but to Bethpage’s credit, they did not fold. ‘
In fact, the Eagles regained the lead right back in the fourth on a two-run double by Patrick Dalton down the left field line that scored Chris Rimaldi and Joe Lynn. The left fielder, Shaun Conigliaro nearly made a remarkable play but he came up just short of making the play.
Working with the 4-2 lead, Martin worked around a two-out single in the fourth to throw a scoreless inning, which allowed his team to get back in the double. He hit a bloop single to left in the fifth, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly by Brian Lunetto to make it 5-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, Martin retired the first two batters before issuing two walks, which prompted a pitching change. They brought in Conor Burns from CF. The hard-throwing righty retired Alex Bardi on a comebacker to the mound.
In the sixth, the Eagles continued to add insurance runs. An RBI double to left by Nick Schimmel extended the lead to 6-2. Chris Downes came around to score after drawing a leadoff walk.
Burns went back out for the sixth and struck out two batters. In the top of the seventh, James Martin ripped an RBI single to left to score Zach Schnabel.
As is always the case with Wantagh, they did not go down easy in the seventh. After Burns retired the first two batters, he issued a single to AJ Bardi and consecutive walks to load the bases and putting the tying run on deck, but a fly out to right field ended the game.
With the victory, they improved to 12-1 on the season. They will host Wantagh tomorrow and then finish out the regular season against Floral Park. Their lone loss came on May 20 against Plainedge, who is also 12-1 – whos lone loss came against Bethpage four days later.
