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Pleasing Win on a Pleasant Day

Wed, 04/12/2023 - 17:38
Will Darrell, East Hampton High’s big left-hander, cruised through Monday morning’s 7-1 win here over Westhampton Beach, giving up three hits, striking out eight, and walking just one.
Jack Graves

The weather was, for the first time in a while, pleasant on Monday, as was East Hampton High’s 7-1 baseball win here over the Westhampton Beach Hurricanes that day.

Will Darrell started on the mound for the Bonackers, and pitched smoothly through six-and-and-two-thirds innings, striking out eight, giving up three hits, and walking just one before giving way to Kieran Conlon for the last out.

Darrell, a big left-hander, who stayed ahead of Westhampton’s batters the whole game — the fourth win of the season for East Hampton vis-a-vis three losses — sailed through the first four innings, giving up just one hit during that skein, a single in the top of the first by the visitors’ number-two hitter, who was subsequently erased in a rundown between first and second base.

In the top of the fifth, with East Hampton leading 5-0, Darrell struck out the first two batters to face him, Westhampton’s fourth and fifth hitters, after which consecutive doubles, the second one over Egan Barzilay’s head in deep center field, put the Hurricanes on the board. A second-to-first groundout ended the inning.

Vinny Alversa, Bonac’s coach, has been experimenting with the batting order lately. Hudson Meyer, the team’s best hitter to date, led off on Monday, with Barzilay, who’s worked his way into the starting lineup, following him. Jack Dickinson, who had been batting eighth, and who had led off against Mount Sinai here on April 4, was moved to the ninth spot.

 East Hampton jumped out to a 3-0 lead in its first at-bat. Meyer doubled and Barzilay singled. After Carter Dickinson and Darrell struck out, Nico Horan-Puglia, the catcher, drove in Meyer with Bonac’s first run. Alversa tried a delayed steal with runners at the corners and Calum Anderson up, but the Hurricanes didn’t bite. Anderson then grounded to short, but the ball was booted, enabling Barzilay and Horan-Puglia to score. Tyler Hansen’s flyout to right field ended the inning.

After Darrell set down the visitors in order in their second, on a flyout to right, a foulout to Carter Dickinson at first, and a short-to-first groundout, East Hampton tacked on another run in the bottom half. Danny Lester, batting eighth in the lineup, and with the count full, singled up the middle to lead off. Jack Dickinson struck out on a 2-2 pitch, but with Meyer up, and with the count 2-2, Lester stole second and went on to third when the throw got by the shortstop. Meyer was subsequently caught looking at a slow 3-2 curve on the outside corner, but Barzilay came through with a line drive single up the middle, scoring Lester with Bonac’s fourth run of the morning, after which Carter Dickinson, who had pitched well in the 5-1 loss to Mount Sinai, grounded out pitcher-to-first.

Alversa’s crew made it 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Tyler Hansen, who was batting seventh, singled on the first pitch he saw. Lester then laid down a sacrifice bunt and Jack Dickinson came through with an opposite-field double to right to plate Hansen, after which Meyer flied out to center and Barzilay grounded out third-to-first.

Horan-Puglia’s two-run home run over the left field fence made East Hampton’s fifth memorable inasmuch as it was the team’s first of the season. Carter Dickinson was retired on an infield groundout to begin the inning, after which Darrell, batting cleanup, doubled, and, as aforesaid, Horan-Puglia homered. His clout made it 7-1 East Hampton, which proved to be the final score.

Conlon, a tall left-hander, who made his mound debut with two outs in the top of the seventh, walked the first batter to face him, but struck out the next to close out the pleasing win.

It was the second straight game in which the Bonackers had scored seven runs. They won 7-3 at Shoreham-Wading River on Saturday — “a team we haven’t beaten in a decade,” Alversa said — with Jack Dickinson going most of the way and Hunter Eberhart closing out the win.

“We were up 3-1 going into the sixth, they tied it, and we came back with four runs in the top of the ninth,” said Alversa. Barzilay and Meyer got the r.b.i.s.

There was no exciting bottom-of-the seventh comeback against Mount Sinai, as there had been with Sayville here on March 30. East Hampton trailed 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth, but Darrell, who doubled to the right field fence after Carter Dickinson had grounded out, was stranded when Anderson flied out to center and Meyer grounded out pitcher-to-first.

A couple of errors treated the Mustangs to two more runs in their seventh. East Hampton loaded the bases with two outs in its last at-bat, but a called strike three spelled finis.

Monday’s game was East Hampton’s first league game of the season. The win improved the team’s record to 4-3. “We’re in the middle of the pack and looking to move up,” Alversa said. “If we can get Carter and Nico going at the plate, we should be all right.”

The Bonackers were to have played the second game of the series at Westhampton Beach yesterday, and are to play game three at home tomorrow.


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