With the baseball season playoffs just around the corner, Comsewogue (9-6) hosted West Babylon (11-4) in the first game of a three-game series Tuesday, May 7. West Babylon struck first in the top of the fourth inning to take a one run lead, but the Warriors answered back in the bottom of the inning when Anthony Manetta drilled the ball straight away, plating Kevin Schnupp to make it a new game at 1-1.
Breaking the stalemate, West Babylon crossed the plate in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly to retake the lead, 2-1, but the Warriors were unable to answer for a final score. In a pitchers duel, Brandon Hancock just outpointed Comsewogue’s Carson McCaffrey.
With two games remaining in their regular season, Comsewogue will look to improve their playoff ranking before postseason play begins May 14.
It was a rain-soaked Div II matchup Friday night as the Miller Place Panthers trailed visiting West Babylon by one goal at the halftime break. The rain intensified to open the second half coming down in sheets at times but that didn’t dampen the Panthers resolve as they clawed their way back to take the must win game 8-7 May 27.
Co-captain Anthony Bartolotto, a junior , topped the scoring charts for the Panthers with five goals, senior co-captain Nicholas Belvedere stretched the net twice with two assists, and senior Patrick Ging’s shot split the pipes. Kenny Leen a junior, had ten stops in net for the Panthers.
The win lifts the Panthers to 5-6 in the division with three games left in the regular season before post season play begins June 9.
Pictured left to right, Miller Place goalie Kenny Leen with one of his ten saves in a rain-soaked home game; Miller Place co-captain Anthony Bartolotto with a diving shot on goal.
The Cougars of Centereach in a rare Sunday morning performance took the best of four sets in a League III matchup from visiting West Babylon 25-9, 19-25, 25-16 and 25-14 April 11. It was senior day for the Cougars and before the game the team honored seniors Kimee Sokolowski (defensive specialist) and (outside hitter) Alexa Timo.
Centereach won the opening set-in convincing fashion before falling in the second to make it a new game. The Cougars found their stride and put away the next two sets for the 3-1 win.
Sokolowski had four aces and five digs and Timo had 11 kills. Gianna Buscarino a junior tallied 18 assists.
The win lifts the Cougars to 4-5 in league and will retake the court in a home game against cross town rival Newfield April 14 and finish up regular season play with a road game the following day against Eastport South Manor. First service for both games is 4p.m.
Suffolk County Police First Squad detectives are investigating a two-car crash that killed a man in West Babylon yesterday evening.
Alfred Bayard was driving a 2013 Jeep Wrangler eastbound on Sunrise Highway at approximately 6:30 p.m. when his vehicle collided with a 2004 Dodge Ram that was also traveling eastbound on Sunrise Highway at the Hubbards Path overpass.
Bayard, 53, of Barnyard Lane, Setauket, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.
The driver of the Dodge Ram, Nicole Limbach, 25, of Ronkonkoma was transported by West Babylon Rescue to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip where she was treated for minor injuries.
Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks and the investigation in continuing. Anyone with information regarding this crash is asked to call the First Squad at 631-854-8152.
It came down to the last second, literally, and the Rocky Point girls’ lacrosse team was on the losing end, as the No. 2 Eagles were upset by No. 6 West Babylon, 9-8.
“It’s the toughest not just end of the game, but end of the season,” Rocky Point head coach Dan Spallina said. “These girls have been through a lot with me and I feel like they’re daughters to me. I have 23 daughters and this one stings for sure.”
The girls didn’t get off to the start they may have liked, as West Babylon scored the first two goals of the game for the early advantage.
“Let’s go, let’s answer back,” Spallina shouted from the sideline, and his girls did just that.
Freshman attack and midfielder Brianna Lamoureux passed the ball from the left side of the cage to senior attack Jillian LoManto up top, who snuck the ball inside to cut the lead in half. After winning the ensuing draw and attempting to score, the West Babylon keeper made a save, but a turnover in Rocky Point’s zone led to another Eagles opportunity, and they weren’t going to squander it.
Sophomore midfielder Madison Sanchez swiveled around the back of the cage and dumped the ball in to tie the game.
Despite battling back, West Babylon’s Sam Geiersbach was hard to contain, as she scored her second, third and fourth goals of the game to end the half with her team up 6-5.
“We were sloppy — we let [Sam Geiersbach] loose a little too many times,” Spallina said.
At the 19:42 mark, West Babylon broke the ice for the scoring in the second half, but Rocky Point was quick to respond when, off a free position shot, junior attack Christina Ferrara passed to freshman attack and midfielder Delaney Vu, who rocketed a shot into the netting. Minutes later, Sanchez passed the ball to freshman attack Megan Greco, to tie the game 7-7.
Again, Geiersbach came through for her team, scoring the go-ahead goal, but Vu countered with a goal off an assist from LoManto. Junior goalkeeper Britney Iamele came through with clutch back-to-back-to-back saves to keep her team in the game, and Spallina called for timeout.
“We were made for this,” Sanchez shouted to her team. “Give it everything you have.”
After maintaining possession for several minutes, and the ball flip-flopping sides, neither team could make it to goal, until Lamoureux was awarded a free position shot after an illegal check knocked her down. With 15 seconds left on the clock, she scored, but the goal was waved off after the referees called a stick violation.
Geiersbach gained possession at midfield and scored her sixth goal of the game with a second left on the clock to break the tie.
“Good players make great plays and that’s what she did,” Spallina said of Geiersbach. “Even at the end of the game, it was a good shot off stick at the hip. That’s just what it comes down to.”
But he said he’s proud of the way his girls battled back time and time again, and made huge strides for the program this season, as it is his first 10-win season since 2010.
“It’s a bitter end,” he said. “But I love this team. I love the character, I love the hustle, I love the heart. We’re resilient as anything, we’re athletic as anything, and we’re young. I told them this could do one of two things — it could shut you down or it’s going to motivate you, and I’ll do my damndest to make sure this motivates them. It’s going to speak to the types of kids they are when they bounce back from this. It’s been a great season.”