Hampton Bays

“Are you sure you want to play today?” said Coach Pete Meehan. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said junior James Puccio, who was enduring the tragedy of losing his mother to cancer just one week prior and was also dealing with a pulled hamstring. Despite entering the game winless, Hampton Bays took the field with heavy hearts against a very strong Babylon team. James’ older brother, Louis, took the mound with his mother looking down on him and he came up aces. He fired 6.2 IP, struck out 11 batters and allowed only one ER. “He was unspeakably amazing,” said James. In the sixth inning, James led off with a single that ultimately allowed Hampton Bays to mount a comeback and turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead and their first and only victory...