Baseball Opens up Season with Spring Classic

Patchogue, N.Y. – The men's baseball team (1-2) opened the season this past weekend with the Spring Classic at Gregg Alfano Field against Keene St. (1-3), Wheaton (2-0), and Western New England (2-1). 

The first, on Friday, featured a thrilling game against the Owls of Keene St. The Eagles scored first in the bottom of the first inning when Seth Pileggi (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown Christian) stole second; Mike Alisio (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clarke) came home on the throw down to second. Keene St. came right back in the next inning on a one out single to left center. That was the only blemish by starter Jonathan Beekman (Ridge, N.Y. / Longwood). Beekman pitched seven strong innings allowing only one run, five hits, walking two, and striking out three. 

The game remained tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth. That's when the excitement happened. Pileggi led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single to second. A sacrifice bunt by Vincent Reda (Middle Village, N.Y. / St. Francis Prep) moved Pileggi up to second. Brian Hannigan (West Babylon, N.Y. / St. John the Baptist) was intentionally walked to set up a double-play ball. Mike Feerick (West Babylon, N.Y. / West Babylon) bunted over both players to set up the game-winning situation for freshman Joseph Calabrese (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clarke). Calabrese came through in the clutch in his first collegiate game. In a pressure filled situation he singled to shortstop to drive in Pileggi for the walk-off, 2-1, victory for the Eagles. 

The next game, on Saturday, St. Joseph's faced the #1 ranked team in the preseason polls, Wheaton College. Robert Hyde (West Babylon, N.Y. / West Babylon) got the start on the bump for the Eagles and pitched four innings while allowing five earned runs on seven hits. St. Joseph's lone run came in the bottom of the fifth off a one-out single by Brian Hannigan. The Lyons showed why they were the top team in D3 with the 17-1 win. 

Sunday featured a matchup against the Golden Bears of Western New England College. Sophomore Steve Szobesky (Seaford, N.Y. / Seaford) got the start on the hill for St. Joseph's. He pitched 4.2 innings, allowing three earned runs off eight hits en route to the loss. The Eagles scored an equalizing run in the bottom of the fourth from a two out single by junior Dan Diblasi (Lindenhurst, N.Y. / Lindenhurst). Diblasi was the pitcher credited with the win in the Keene St. game. The Eagles bats struggled to produce the rest of the game as Western New England scored six unanswered runs, winning the game 7-1.

 St. Joseph's will have another full slate of games scheduled for this weekend at Gregg Alfano Field with the first game on Friday against Brockport St. (2-0) at 3:00 p.m. Saturday features a double-header against Plattsburgh St. with the first game starting at 12:00 p.m. Sunday is a solo game against Fredonia St. at 12:00 p.m.