Bases-loaded walk in eighth sends Hauppauge into Class A final

It was one of those loud games in which the home runs come often and dramatically. But in that split-second with the bases loaded and a 3-and-0 count on Hauppauge's Chris Dutton with one out in the bottom of the eighth, it was all quiet stares and held breath.

Danny Paray, the reliever who had saved Mount Sinai more than a few times in this Suffolk Class A loser's bracket final, stared down at home plate, silently willing the man in blue to put up his hand.

He did - but it was to signal Dutton to take his base.

So ended the Mustangs' stellar season: a pitch just a bit outside and a 9-8 Hauppauge win after Mount Sinai had come back from a six-run deficit.

"I took that pitch," Dutton said. "There's nothing better than a walk-off walk."

Fourth-seeded Hauppauge (19-6) will play sixth-seeded Kings Park, which is unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament, at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Kings Park. The Eagles must beat the Kingsmen twice to advance; Kings Park needs only one win.

Mount Sinai had hit three home runs to erase its 8-2 deficit - a three-run blast by Nick D'Angelo and a solo shot by Ian Schneider in the fifth off Joe Policastro and a two-out, two-run drive by Doug Putkowski off Bobby Vitulano in the sixth.

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After Matt Reistetter drew a leadoff walk off Paray in the eighth, he stole second and advanced to third on Steven Dill's groundout. The Mustangs intentionally walked Robbie Scheim and Angelo Biondo to set up a force at every base, but with Hauppauge banging on the fence and screaming loudly - "the bench did a great job,'' Dutton said - the Eagles won four pitches later.

Down 2-1 in the second, Hauppauge scored five runs off starter Schneider, with the big hit a two-run single by Dave Budzitowski. Tyler Scanlon and Dill added RBI singles before Paray came in to end the threat. The Eagles made it 8-2 in the third on a two-run homer by sophomore John Colby.

After the two home runs off Policastro in the fifth, Hauppauge second baseman Franco Testani's over-the-shoulder catch in shallow right helped Vitulano get out of the inning with a two-run lead. But Tyler Badamo singled in the sixth and Putkowski homered to left to tie it.

It was a fitting ordeal for Hauppauge, which lost to Mount Sinai in its opener and then won four elimination games in four straight days. Life on the precipice, coach Kevin Giachetti said, makes you "nervous, on edge. It happened to us last year and it's a learning experience."

Added Reistetter: "We have to win six to become county champs. But we knew in the beginning of the season that we were going to do something special."