Sparacino helps Commack edge W. Islip

Just minutes earlier, Mike Sparacino's double had given Commack a one-run lead, and as Sparacino stood on the mound in the top of the seventh inning, he had just one thought: close the game out.

He promptly allowed a leadoff double. "I didn't set myself up to have a nice, easy inning like I was hoping," he said.

Sparacino struck out the next batter, punctuating it with a Joba Chamberlain-like scream into his glove, and then got a grounder and a pop-up. As the ball hung in the air, he walked toward the dugout yelling in exhilaration. He didn't even see the ball get caught as No. 8 Commack sealed its 2-1 home victory over No. 10 West Islip Monday in the Suffolk losers'-bracket semifinals.

Sparacino used a curveball and slider to limit West Islip to six hits, five for singles.

"He kept the hitters off rhythm," Commack coach Ed Boll said. "To come back and pitch the way he did to close the game out? That's why he's an all-county kid."

Commack (20-6) took a 1-0 lead in the first when Charles Galiano's sacrifice fly drove in Greg Andrews. But starter Christian Stancavage settled down after that for West Islip (17-8) and didn't allow another hit until the sixth.

"He's been a hard-luck loser a couple of times," West Islip coach Shawn Rush said. "It's tough to look at him in the face and tell him he lost with a game like that."

SEE PHOTOSSuffolk 'AA' playoffs: Commack 2, West Islip 1

Back-to-back singles by Joe Watson and Joe Valentine and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third in the fifth for West Islip. Tyler Bell slammed a pitch to left for a tying RBI single, but Valentine was called out on a close play at the plate.

In the sixth, Commack's Rocco Pepe was hit by a pitch and scored on Sparacino's two-out double. "I was sitting first pitch, dead red," he said.

Now Commack continues its survival tour in the losers'- bracket final at No. 5 Eastport-South Manor at 4 p.m. Tuesday, with the winner facing Sachem North.

"We all love being with our backs against the wall," Sparacino said. "We like being the underdogs. It gives us motivation. It gives us the drive to get through these games. We wouldn't have it any other way."