by Andrew Connors
We spoke to Plainedge’s head coach, Colin Fratrick about today’s win as well as what his team plans to do looking ahead at Game 2. pic.twitter.com/Jj3NTBu9Pz
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 16, 2021
The Conference 4 Varsity Baseball Championships kicked off on Wednesday afternoon with the Bethpage Golden Eagles slated to take on the Plainedge Red Devils. The stakes were high and the players’ emotions were running even higher, as both teams made it a point to come out loud, with energy. While Plainedge was able to keep this brand of high-energy baseball going for the duration of the game, Bethpage seemed to fizzle out rather quickly after they fell behind.
Both teams were swinging the bat with ferocity out of the gates as they both scored in the first inning, but Plainedge was able to sustain it. They came out and put up five runs in the top half of the first inning, including a moonshot home run off the bat of Pat Reyes. It looked like Bethpage was going to be right on the Red Devils’ tail as their leadoff hitter came around to score with no outs, but the middle of their lineup couldn’t push them around to score.
It was cruise control after the first inning for Plainedge’s starting pitcher, Tim Purack. He was never in trouble after Bethpage’s early attempt to jump on him, outside of a couple runners reaching base here and there. Purack was the winning pitcher for the Red Devils and on his way to a complete game, he racked up 5 strikeouts while allowing 2 earned runs and 6 hits.
For Bethpage, they sent out left-hander James Martin as their starter and he never really seemed to get comfortable on the mound. After Plainedge attacked early, Martin calmed down and limited the damage before he was ultimately removed from the game for Kyle Kbrindis to come on in relief. In 5.2 innings pitched, Martin allowed 9 hits and 7 earned runs, while striking out five Red Devils and walking one. Kbrindis looked strong in relief as he came down and got the final out of the 6th inning and only allowed one run in the 7th inning. Other than the run he allowed at the end of the game, Kbrindis finished with five strikeouts and one walk.
On the offensive side of things, there were a couple of standout players for both sides. As for Plainedge, Tyler Kregeloh and Pat Reyes each had their own 2-run homer. Kregeloh finished the game going 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs and Reyes ended up going 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs of his own. Another key player for the Red Devils was Joe Leone. As the leadoff hitter, Leone went 4-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. He also had a handful of jaw-dropping plays at shortstop that stopped Bethpage from building momentum in a possible comeback attempt.
For the Golden Eagles, leadoff hitter Pat Dalton was a major factor in their offense as he finished the day going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Zach Schnabel was also a big piece for Bethpage as he was responsible for their first-inning run on a line drive single through the left side of the infield. Schnabel put in a 2-for-3 performance at the plate and also had a couple of nice plays over at shortstop as well.
Game 2 is do-or-die for a talented Bethpage team that lost only for the third time this season. They will look to spark something in their players as they need to win the next two games if they want to win the championship, while Plainedge is trying to carry the same mindset that they brought into this game on to the next one. Game 2 will be played on Thursday, June 17th, at Plainedge High School. After some heavy chirping coming from Plainedge’s fan section towards the end of the game, Bethpage will certainly use that as motivation for a potential comeback in what could be an intense game.
