Evan Hasemann thrives under pressure to lift Bayport-Blue Point baseball over Shoreham-Wading River
![Bayport-Blue Point's Evan Hasemann (4) throws a pitch in the...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AMGVhNzRiOTAtNjgyZC00%3AOTAtNjgyZC00MmIwZGI5%2Fskshore240411_gallery.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Bayport-Blue Point's Evan Hasemann (4) throws a pitch in the 6th inning on Wednesday April 10, 2024. Credit: Bob Sorensen
It takes a certain type of mindset for a relief pitcher to get thrown into a bases-loaded, no-out scenario and thrive.
When Bayport-Blue Point’s Evan Hasemann entered that situation Wednesday, pressure became an afterthought.
With the Phantoms clinging to a three-run lead over host Shoreham-Wading River in the sixth inning, Hasemann calmly got three outs — a sac fly to rightfield, a groundout to second base and a strikeout — in 11 pitches to shut the door on a potential Wildcats comeback.
Hasemann’s save secured a 6-4 victory and the series win for the Bayport-Blue Point baseball team in the second game of a three-game Suffolk VII series. The game was called by darkness in the top of the seventh.
“I’m 100% comfortable (in those situations),” Hasemann said. “I don’t have a nerve in my body, not a nerve.”
“He has ice in his veins, honestly,” Bayport-Blue Point coach Victor Manzella said. “ . . . He really just doesn’t care about what situation it is. He just goes out there and hits the pitches that we call. That’s what makes him good, he doesn’t think.”
Bayport-Blue Point (6-2, 6-2 Suffolk VII) was threatening before the game was called, adding a run and loading the bases with one out in the seventh. By rule, the score at the end of the sixth marked the final score.
Shoreham-Wading River (6-2, 6-2) grabbed a 2-0 lead through two innings. Christian Cox hit a first-inning RBI single and starting pitcher Nick Stella hit a second-inning homer to right-centerfield.
Stella had not allowed a hit through 2 2/3 innings, but four third-inning walks forced a run in and loaded the bases. Logan Curran hit a bases-clearing double to give the Phantoms a 4-2 lead, one it never relinquished.
“We never die,” Manzella said. “We’re down — that’s what makes a good team. That’s a character of a good team when they’re able to come back and respond after an inning like that where you give up a run in the first, a solo in the second.”
Phantoms starter Cooper Fuller (3-0) settled down after the two early runs, retiring five consecutive batters after the Stella homer. He struck out five and allowed eight hits and four earned runs in five-plus innings.
“He’s been better, actually,” Manzella said. “But he’s a bulldog. He worked his butt off on the mound and he kept us in the game, and that’s all I could ask for.”
The Phantoms can secure a sweep with a home win over the Wildcats on Thursday. Hasemann, who will earn the start, knows what it will take.
“Lights out,” Hasemann said. “It’s lights out.”