Eagles End Weekend with Sweep of Dolphins

Patchogue, N.Y. – Due to the playing conditions at the Mount Saint Vincent's field, the Eagles hosted the Dolphins at Gregg Alfano Field. It was the second away matchup of the weekend St. Joseph's had to host. The Golden Eagles (6-9, Skyline 4-0) took advantage of playing on their home field and swept the Dolphins (0-13, Skyline 0-4) to gain a share of first place in the conference with the Purchase Panthers (9-5, Skyline 4-0). SJC won by scores of 13-3 and 3-1.

In the opener, St. Joseph's struck first in the top of the third. First basemen Vincent Reda (Middle Village, N.Y. / St. Francis Prep) led off with a single up the middle but was later picked off at first base. Third basemen Joseph Calabrese (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clark) followed up with a single to right field. Then catcher Mike Alisio (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clark) hit a triple to right center to score Calabrese. Alisio came home in the next at-bat from a grounder by Alex Ras (Merrick, N.Y. / Calhoun) to the shortstop. The Dolphins tied up the score at 2-2 in the end of the bottom of the third.

St. Joseph's put the game out of reach after the fifth, where they scored eight runs. In the fifth, the Dolphins' pitching struggled, by walking six Eagles and hitting two of them. Alisio came up with the bases loaded and cleared them with a double.  After that, the Eagles were in cruise control and were able to run rule Mount Saint Vincent after seven innings. Robert Hyde (West Babylon, N.Y. / West Babylon) picked up his first win of the season by pitching six strong innings allowing only three runs and three hits. Alisio finished the game, going 2-for-3 with four RBI and three runs. DH Dan Diblasi (Lindenhurst, N.Y. / Lindenhurst) and left fielder Matt Ginobbi (Nesconset, N.Y. / Smithtown East) each recorded two hits.

The second game had less runs, but same result for St. Joseph's. Sophomore Steve Szobesky (Seaford, N.Y. / Seaford) took the hill for the Eagles and pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing only one run on three hits while striking out four. He earned his first victory of the season while freshman Chris Rubin (Nesconset, N.Y. / Smithtown East) pitched 1 1/3 innings to get the first save of his collegiate career.  

Again the Eagles got out to a quick start, scoring in the top of the first from a RBI single by Diblasi. Then in the third, Alex Ras tripled to right field and scored in the next at-bat off a single by Kenny Willms (Centereach, N.Y. / Centereach). Those two runs were all Szobesky needed, but St. Joseph's added one more insurance run in the top of the fourth off a throwing error by the Dolphin shortstop.

Next up for the team is a home game against the Red Dragons of Oneonta St. (3-9) at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.