Sports
Eagles Baseball Beat Bellport 8-4 To Stay In Playoffs
The Hauppauge baseball team keeps its championship hopes alive by winning the first round in the loser's bracket.
The Hauppauge baseball team will advance in the loser's bracket of the Suffolk County Class AA playoffs after beating Bellport 8-4 on Wednesday evening. The Eagles took an early lead by stringing together hits and held up under pressure.
The Heroes: Senior Dom Confredo got Hauppauge's batting lineup started with a double to lead off the bottom of the second inning. Franco Testani put the Eagles on the scoreboard with an RBI single, followed up by a RBI double from Robbie Scheim. Hauppauge ended the second inning with a 2-0 lead.
Confredo extended Hauppauge's lead with a two-run homer at the top of the third inning, sent over the left field fence. The Eagles continued to add four runs in the fifth and sixth innings by stringing together hits with intelligent base running.
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Starting pitcher Joe Policastro only allowed two earned runs in six plus innings.
The Turning Point: Bellport batter Steven Seidman put the pressure on Hauppauge's defense in the top of the seventh, hitting a two-run home run. However, Eagles relief pitcher Tyler Scanlon was able to work out of the jam without giving up any additional runs.
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The Quote: "What was different today is everyone was up in the dugout, cheering each other on," Policastro said. "We also had much better at-bats today."
Confredo said he agreed with his teammate that Bellport's pitcher had zeroed in to the strike zone, making it easier to connect at the plate.
The Bottom Line: The Eagles managed to pull themselves up, brush off the dust and recover from their loss against North Babylon on Tuesday. Hauppauge's players are aware they have a long road ahead to reach the county finals from the loser's bracket, but remain confident in their ability.
"I feel like we have a really good chance to make it, we have good defense and good pitching," Confredo said.
Who's Next? The Hauppauge Eagles will play against the loser of the Eastport-South Manor versus Connetquot match on Thursday at 4 p.m. The location of the game has yet to be decided.
Box Score
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Final Bellport 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 Hauppauge 0 0 2 2 1 3 0 8Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
