Mid 5: West Islip takes a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch to score Frank Romano pic.twitter.com/UkE2CdQLsd
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 3, 2023
When it comes to the term “Classic West Islip baseball”, a few things come to mind; run prevention, outstanding defense and taking advantage of the opponent’s errors. That is even true against the top teams on Long Island, as the Lions will generally find a way to force the opposition into making an error and capitalizing on it.
It has allowed them to sprint out to a 13-1 start to the season and capture the first two games of a critical three-game set against Smithtown West, who were just a game back of them in the standings. West Islip came back from an early 4-0 deficit and walked it off on Monday. On Tuesday, they won a 5-1 slog behind another dominant outing from their sophomore stud Evan Byrnes who out dueled another sophomore ace, Brady Austin.
Both offenses were frustrated early on in this one as the game was scoreless through 4 innings. Each side had some opportunities to get on the board, but the starting pitchers made big pitches when they had to and stranded runners in scoring position. Smithtown West’s best chance came in the fourth when they got a leadoff single by Jack LaPrairie and a one-out single by Chase but Byrnes was able to retire the next two batters and strand the runners.
In the top of the fifth, Austin walked the first two batters and a sac bunt moved them both into scoring position. West Islip finally got on the board on a wild pitch to score Frank Romano who just narrowly beat out the tag by Austin at home plate. The inning was ended on a ground out to second.
Mid 3: Still no score. Austin up to 66 pitches but has 7 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/N5PMN2oPPf
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 3, 2023
In the bottom of the fifth, Smithtown West threatened once again, They got a leadoff walk and he was sacrificed to second to put the tying run in scoring position. A fly ball down the line appeared like it would be out of play. Out of nowhere came Shaun Boyle who literally dove over the fence at full speed to make an improbable play and end the inning – leaving every person in attendance stunned.
West Islip did not stop. They added another run in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Chris Piropato to score Jake Romeo and make it 2-0. Byrnes fired a 1-2-3 sixth inning to put his team six outs away.
In the top of the 7th, West Islip broke it open with three runs thanks to a sac fly by Chris Piropata and a two-run single by Shaun Boyle to make it 5-0 in favor of the Lions.
Smithtown West got on the board in the 7th inning when the outfielders collided on a fly ball to allow Cascione to come around and score. That was the only time they were able to scratch across a run as the game finally ended around 7:40 – more than 3 hours after game time.
It was a crucial victory for West Islip who is now in the driver’s seat to capture the League Title. And if you’ve been following Long Island Baseball during the 2010’s, that comes as no surprise to you.
