East Hampton Advances To Shoreline Title Game in Baseball

When East Hampton and Old Saybrook last played on Good Friday, the Bellringers scored 13 runs, 11 in one inning, and had 17 hits.

On Saturday, in the Shoreline Conference tournament semifinal, they picked up right where they left off against the Rams.

East Hampton scored five runs in the first inning and had 14 hits to go with three walks and three hit batters en route to a 10-4 victory at home.

The Bellringers (17-4) will play North Branford (17-4) in the Shoreline championship game on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Indian River Complex in Clinton. Mike Damone pitched a complete game shutout as the Thunderbirds defeated Old Lyme 6-0 on Saturday.

East Hampton jumped on Rams' starting pitcher Chris Liggio in the first inning.

Joe Tuxbury and Austin Wosleger singled to get things started and Adam Michaud drove in Tuxbury with a single. With one out, Al Iannone drove one to left center that centerfielder Sam Redway dove for but could not hold on to.

Or did he?

Old Saybrook coach Steve Woods thought so and went out to talk to the umps.

“I thought it hit the ground,” East Hampton coach Scott Wosleger said. “The third base umpire said it hit the ground.”

Iannone’s hit stood and the Bellringers were up, 2-0. With two out, an even bigger defensive play hurt Old Saybrook. Shortstop Justin Beale fielded Brian Roberson’s ground ball but his throw drew first baseman Nick DePalermo off the bag. When he tried to tag a hustling Roberson, the ball was knocked loose and into foul territory. Another run scored on the play and it was 3-0. Austin Shumbo completed the scoring with a two-run single and it was 5-0.

“That was big. I was happy for Tuxbury getting on base,” Wosleger said. “We haven’t had a lead-off guy get on base in a few games. That started it. We had some really good at-bats and some two-out hits.”

After Liggio got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, the sophomore led off the third with a double and later scored to cut the deficit to 5-1. But East Hampton had an answer. Roberson began the bottom of the third with a double and later scored on Tuxbury’s single.

In the fourth, Spencer Daly homered to give East Hampton a seemingly insurmountable 7-1 lead with Iannone on the mound.

The senior lefthander, who had been 9-0 on the season coming into the game, was sailing along through four innings. It was in the fourth, however, that consecutive comebackers dinged him, the second on the hand and stomach.

“Shook me up a little bit,” Iannone said, adding that the hand and stomach didn’t bother him. “It’s definitely humbling, makes you think. The ground ball before that got me in the [groin] and then the very next pitch [the ball] got me in the stomach.”

That Iannone is fine is a relief to East Hampton, but there is no denying that the Rams found some life in the fifth.

Old Saybrook got three straight hits to start the inning before Iannone got the next two batters to ground out. However, two more singles to make the score 7-4 signaled the end of Iannone’s day on the mound.

“On a warm day like today you have to have your radar up and you have to know you can’t push,” Wosleger said.

It didn’t hurt to have Marvin Gorgas waiting in the wings.

Gorgas came in, and as the freshman has done so often this season, got out of the inning with no more runs being scored.

Still, momentum had shifted and with two innings to play, Old Saybrook believed they had a shot.

East Hampton took care of that in the bottom half of the inning.

With two out, Wosleger (3-for-4), Michaud, Gorgas and Iannone all singled as East Hampton got the three runs back for a 10-4 lead.

“I thought the biggest part of the game was at 7-4 when we answered with three runs when we had two outs,” Wosleger said. “That took the air out of [Old Saybrook’s] sails.”

Liggio left and in came Ryan Daniels, who promptly hit Daly, who had homered an inning earlier.

Daly took it in stride.

“Nah, I’ve been hit so many times,” he said when asked if thought there was a message with the pitch.

Gorgas ran into a little trouble in the sixth but got out of it, then pitched a perfect seventh inning for his 10th save, preserving Iannone’s 10th win.

Michaud, who has pitched well against North Branford twice this season, will get the start Sunday in the championship game.

“He’ll be ready for it,” Wosleger said. “I feel good about him and I feel good about him especially because we got guys behind him and he knows that, too. Knowing we can go Marvin, we can go Shumbo if we need to, we can go Iannone.”

In other words, this game is for a title, a banner to hang in the gym, and it’s all hands on deck.

Editor's note: Want to go to the game? Directions to the Indian River Complex (201 Killingworth Tpke. (Route 81): Route 9 south to Exit 9 (Route 81). Turn right onto Route 81 south. Continue on Route 81 south through junction of routes 81/80. Indian River Complex will be 3.7 miles south on left.