Colts Open Season With Sweep Of Defending Champs

The baseball season got underway last week, and the Colts got things started right out of the gate with a three game series against defending county champions West Islip. The Colts lost to this very team in the county championship last season, so this matchup was highly anticipated. With star pitcher Aaron Glickstein out for the season, sophomore Bradley Camarda was called on to pitch the first game against West Islip’s ace, James Kory. The Colts jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, and Camarda shut the door from there. A late two-run home run by senior Jon Faraci cemented the win for the Colts, 7-2.

The second game of the series saw Faraci taking the mound for the Colts. It was a cold, rainy day, and both teams’ offenses looked sluggish to start. Then, in the third inning, a solo home run by senior Josh Wende kickstarted the scoring. Over the next several innings, both teams had several chances to score, and after seven innings the score was tied, 2-2. With junior Frank Tricamo on the mound now, the game went into extra innings. In the extra frames, both pitchers kept the other side off the board until the top of the tenth, when senior Michael Marino’s squeeze bunt scored the go ahead run. Tricamo got the final three outs, and the Colts won, 3-2.

The final game of the series saw an outpouring of offense from both sides. West Islip jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Colts matched them with four runs of their own. Seemingly every inning one team would score and take the lead only for the other team to take the lead for themselves in the next. Despite an error that gave West Islip two runs and a chance to tie the game in the final inning, Hills West held on, winning 10-9 and completing the sweep of the defending champions. Next week the Colts play three games against league opponent Newfield.