Eagles Soar High versus Knights

Patchogue, N.Y. – The men's baseball team (4-9, Skyline 2-0) ended their five game losing streak with a sweep of the Knights of Mount Saint Mary (4-6, Skyline 1-3) in their conference opener.

In the opening game, the Eagles jumped on the board first in the top of the third inning when third basemen Joseph Calabrese (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clark) scored on a wild pitch. The Knights scored in the bottom of that inning from a two-RBI single down the left field line. It was the only runs surrendered by starter Jonathan Beekman (Ridge, N.Y. / Longwood). Two errors by Mount Saint Mary's in the top of the fourth gave the lead, 5-2, back to the Eagles.  St. Joseph's added to the lead with four runs in the sixth.  Designated hitter Dan Diblasi (Lindenhurst, N.Y. / Lindenhurst) hit an RBI single up the middle to score shortstop Alex Ras (Merrick, N.Y. / Calhoun). An error scored one more run for the Eagles, then a double by first basemen Vincent Reda (Middle Village, N.Y. / St. Francis Prep) brought home two more to give the Eagles a 9-2 lead. St. Joseph's tacked on four more runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth.  The Golden Eagles would cruise to a 15-6 victory.

Vincent Reda powered St. Joseph's with four hits and four RBI's. Catcher Mike Alisio (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clarke) had a solo homer in the seventh for his first of the season. Starter Beekman pitched five effective innings allowing only one earned run and five hits, to earn his first victory of the season.

The St. Joseph's bats stayed hot in the second game. Alisio led off the game with triple and later scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Ras led the inning off with a single down the left field line, he then stole second. Brian Hannigan (West Babylon, N.Y. / St. John the Baptist) went down swinging after Ras stole second, then Anthony Andreani (Whitestone, N.Y. / Holy Cross) singled up the middle moving Ras over to third. With two on and one out, Vincent Reda came up and cleared the bases with a homerun to right field. The Knights scored two in the bottom of the third, but the Eagles answered with five more in the top of the fourth to give them a commanding 9-2 lead. Mary's added one more run in the bottom of the sixth and seventh, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome as the Eagles earned the 9-4 win.

Reda again led the Eagles with three RBI's on 1-of-2  at-bats. Starter Dan Diblasi pitched seven strong innings allowing four earned runs and contributed his own effort with two RBI.