Sophomore Evan Byrnes was outstanding for West Islip as he fired six shutout innings and he was backed by an offense that posted 3 runs in the first inning and continued to tack on. He’s our Player of the Game @GCsports pic.twitter.com/QPX89aGq4e
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 21, 2023
There’s no question that West Islip is on the short list of top baseball programs on Long Island. They solidified that status last decade when they captured Suffolk County Class AA Championship in 2014, 2016 & 2018. In 2016, they were one win away from winning the New York State title. They nearly added to that list in 2021, but fell short in the County Championship to Newfield.
They are in pursuit of adding another banner to the right field fence. They moved ever so closer to that goal this afternoon with a clean 8-0 victory over Hills East to improve to 8-1 on the season. They were led by sophomore RHP Evan Byrnes who was lights out – firing six shutout innings, allowing just four hits, two walks and striking out six. If you’ve followed West Islip over the years, it is not the least bit surprising that they have another promising young pitcher contributing at the varsity level.
The offense wasted no time in this one.
Frank Romano led off reaching on an error by the first baseman and promptly stole second base. He advanced to third on a sac bunt and scored when Erick Burciaga hit one hard at the second baseman that clanked off his glove and allowed the first run to score. After Alex Burciaga grounded out to shortstop. Thomas McElwee crushed one to left field that just missed going out but he settled for an RBI double. Gavin DiBendetto followed with an RBI single to score McElwee for the third run of the inning. The inning came to a close when Chris Piropato grounded out to third to end it.
Byrnes actually had his only bit of traffic on the bases in the second inning. He allowed a leadoff single to Jake Strow before striking out Luke Gottlieb. Jackson Pam followed with a single to right field to advance Strow to second base. He was able to settle down and get an infield pop out for the second out and ended the inning with a strikeout of Jack Altfest.
He never had any issues after that, firing a 1-2-3 third inning, worked around a leadoff single in the fourth inning and allowed a single in the fifth inning. In no other inning did a runner reach second base.
During that time, his offense continued to work. They scored single runs in the second and third innings, along with a two-run inning in the fourth.
Sophomore Evan Byrnes was outstanding for West Islip as he fired six shutout innings and he was backed by an offense that posted 3 runs in the first inning and continued to tack on. He’s our Player of the Game @GCsports pic.twitter.com/QPX89aGq4e
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 21, 2023
Frank Romano’s double in the second inning brought home Derek Rivera who led off the inning with a single. They added a run in the third on an RBI single by Sean Boyle. Alex Burciaga’s single made it 6-0 in the fourth and McElwee continued his torrid day with an RBI double to make it 7-0. The final run came in the home half of the sixth on a fielder’s choice.
Byrnes’ day was done after six, he was relieved by Jake Romero who tossed a scoreless inning despite walking two and allowing a hit.
After the game, Byrnes stated how he was able to mix in all his pitches, with an emphasis on his change up. It’s already his third win of the season. The Lions will look to continue their playoff push. They are tied with Smithtown West and a half game ahead of North Babylon in League II.
