Sfakis's clutch hit boosts Mount Sinai

After Thursday's clutch hit, John Sfakis actually might have the right jersey number next to his name on the roster. Sfakis was recently brought up from the junior varsity and he delivered in a big way.

Sfakis drilled a fastball up the middle, driving in pinch runner Brian Reed with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to lift Mount Sinai to a 4-3 win over Bayport-Blue Point in Suffolk League VII baseball.

Joe Pidoto singled to start the inning and Reed was brought in to run. A wild pitch moved Reed to second and he advanced to third on a sacrifice by Anthony Flynn. After a strikeout, Sfakis ended it with the single.

"I was under a lot of pressure,'' Sfakis said. "I just wanted to hit the ball and end the game for my team.''

Said Mount Sinai coach Eric Reichenbach: "He has a tendency to be long once in a while with his swing. He stayed short with his stroke and took the ball back up the middle, which is what you have to do. It was a phenomenal at-bat.''

Trailing 3-0, Mount Sinai (13-6, 13-6) scored two in the fourth and tied it in the seventh. Chris Nugent (2-for-3) reached on an infield single with one out, went to third on a single by Gus Mejia and scored on Chris Prestia's groundout.

"We fought hard at the end,'' said Mike Donodio, who went 2-for-3 with a run, double and intentional walk. "We played small ball and it worked. A lot of guys came through in the clutch.''

SEE PHOTOSMount Sinai 4, Bayport-Blue Point 3

Tyler Valentino pitched eight innings for Mount Sinai, allowing two earned runs and 10 hits in getting the win.

"I thought Tyler did a fantastic job,'' Reichenbach said. "He overcame a couple of hits early and some miscues defensively. He kept us in the game''

Mount Sinai prevented Bayport-Blue Point (15-4) from clinching the league title. BBP, which caps the regular season against Mount Sinai today, leads Shoreham-Wading River (14-4) by half a game.

"Hopefully, it's a momentum builder for us,'' Reichenbach said. "We can improve our seed.''