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Connetquot Rides Five Run Fifth to Victory Over Ward Melville

by Trevor Dugan

Connetquot High School’s perfect start continued Monday as they defeated Ward Melville, 5-2, to improve to 4-0 in 2026. The T-Birds took the lead with a five-run rally in the bottom of the fifth, and got six strong innings of work from starting pitcher DJ Filippone. 

Starting opposite of Filippone for Ward Melville was junior RHP Andrew Poxon, who turned in a solid performance of his own, pitching into the fifth inning and striking out five batters while allowing just two earned runs. 

Ward Melville wasted no time grabbing an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring on an error and RBI groundout off the bat of shortstop Nick Farsla. Connetquot threatened that lead in the bottom of the first, putting two runners in scoring position, but Poxon struck out the last two batters of the inning to end the threat. 

The two starters would trade scoreless frames until the fifth inning. Ward Melville nearly extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth, when Liam McGovern roped one into the left-centerfield gap with two outs and a man on second, but Connetquot CF Matt Lineman made an impressive diving grab to rob the Patriots’ second baseman of extra bases and keep the deficit at 2-0. 

With their starter Filippone dealing, the T-Birds were desperate to get him some run support. They got what they were looking for in the bottom of the fifth as their bats exploded for five runs, sending nine batters to the plate and taking a three run lead into the sixth. 

The T-Birds scoring barrage began when freshman third baseman Andrew McQuade tied things up at 2-2 with a two-run double down the right field line. McQuade had made a pair of costly errors prior to his game-tying hit, so it must have been especially sweet for him to come through in the clutch. 

Connetquot took a 3-2 lead on an infield single by their starter Filippone, and got two more on back-to-back RBI doubles by Michael Mallon and Danny Ryan to extend their lead to 5-2. 

“Their pitcher was throwing a lot of strikes,” Fillipone said when asked about the fifth inning rally. “One of our young guys, McQuade, got the job done with a double.”

After coming through with the go-ahead single in the fifth, Filippone pitched a shutdown top of the sixth to finish off his quality start with a final line of six innings pitched, five strikeouts, and just two unearned runs allowed.

“I noticed the umpire was calling a lot of outside strikes,” Filippone said after his stellar start. “So I was throwing a lot of cutters and backdoor two-seamers, it was working.”

RHP Jack Doucet entered for Connetquot in the top of the seventh and slammed the door on Ward Melville, striking out the last two batters of the game to earn the save and finish off Connetquot’s 5-2 victory, extending their season opening winning streak to six games. 

Now 4-0 in Suffolk League II play, Connetquot will be back in action Wednesday April 13 at Ward Melville High School for the second game of their three game set with the Patriots, who fall to 3-4 after the loss.