John Hennge
Travis Bruinsma Throws 3-Hit Shutout in AA Championship Game, Fulfills Promise to Best Friend
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNunBApHEOw]When the pop up off the bat of Nick Vitale came down and landed into the glove of the second baseman, the Connetquot Thunderbirds could rejoice as the 2015 Suffolk County AA Champs for the second time in four seasons. This time it was by virtue of a 6-0 shutout of No. 2 seed Ward Melville which concluded a high-intensity three game series.The jubilant emotions were met with grief, however as the Thunderbirds were still mourning the loss of star pitcher, John Hennge’s father, Walter, who passed away suddenly on Saturday.“I made a promise to John Hennge that I would win this game,” said starting pitcher Travis Bruinsma, who won his Long Island leading 12th game of the season with a three-hit shutout.How about the nerves? P...
Gagliano Sends Connetquot Into the Suffolk County Championship
Photo Credit: Vinny Messana In what appeared to be a smooth 4-1 win in a monumental game, Smithtown East rallied off Connetquot starter John Hengge with two outs in the seventh inning on RBI singles by Matt DiPietro and Matt Milne to tie the game at 4.Yesterday’s starter, Travis Bruinsma, came on to record the final out of the seventh and allow the Thunderbirds bats to go to work.That’s exactly what they did. Hot-hitting Aaron Gagliano lined a one out single up the middle with runners on first and second off yesterday’s winning pitcher, Greg Maitles, to send the T-Birds into a frenzy.It was also Bruinsma’s 10th win of the season–a very rare feat for high school pitchers.They won the best-of-three semifinals and will now take on Ward Melville on Saturday in the...
