25 Years Ago in Bonac Sports 07.12.12

July 23, 1987

    Summer squash is about to make its debut on the East End, not only at farm stands, but also at the Omnihealth and Racquet Club in Southampton, which recently converted one of its four air-conditioned racquetball courts to accommodate the lively racket game.

    Richard Gold, the club’s director, said of the addition, “Frankly, our fourth racquetball court was underused, so we said, ‘Why not squash?’ ”

    The plexiglass and aluminum conversion kit came from Playcon, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The rear plexiglass wall has been placed eight feet forward of the rear racquetball court to provide a 32-foot length.

    . . . . A compromise was reached concerning the court’s width. “The American singles court,” said Gold, “is 18 feet, six inches wide; the European court is 21 feet wide. The racquetball court is 20 feet wide, so we’re about in the middle.”

    East Hampton’s Little League tournament all-star team, which has only six 12-year-olds on it, was to have played in the District 36 (eastern Suffolk) semifinals last night at Patchogue, having defeated Southampton 12-3 here on Saturday and Greenport-Southold 5-2 here on Monday. It was the first time that an East Hampton team had reached the semifinals since 1984.

    In Saturday’s game, Pat Coyle went all the way, walking only three batters, while his teammates played errorless ball. East Hampton got solid defensive play from, among others, Kevin Somers at second base, Justin Geehreng at shortstop, and Ross Gload in right field.

    Open rowing on a 28-foot replica of a 19th-century whaleboat, the Joshua B. Edwards, began last Thursday evening. The boat, equipped with 14-foot oars, leaves every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. from the East Hampton Historical Society’s Boat Shop at 42 Gann Road, Three Mile Harbor, with Redjeb Jordania, director of the Boat Shop, at the helm.

July 30, 1987

    James Consiglio, 26, of Montauk, won the Montauk Chamber of Commerce mile race Saturday in four minutes and 46 seconds.

    It was the first win for Consiglio, who frequently is among the top finishers in local road races.

    The winner led until the three-quarter mark, when he was challenged by 52-year-old John Conner of Springs, a former national 1,500-meter age-group champion. “When I heard footsteps, I knew whose those were,” said Consiglio, adding that “I didn’t want to settle for second.”

    Conner, who finished three seconds off the pace, later congratulated Consiglio on his “gutsy” running. “I wanted to make you suffer a little,” said Conner, noting that “there was no way I would have beat you — you dug in and were pulling away at the end.”

    The East Hampton entry in the Little League’s District 36 tournament was eliminated by North Patchogue in the semifinals on July 22.

    The young East Hampton team got good pitching from Justin Geehreng, and hit well, “but defensively we weren’t as good as we have been,” said the coach, Alex Walter. A four-run fourth inning enabled the home team to go up 8-6, which proved to be the final score.

    Besides pitching well, Geehreng went three-for-four at the plate, with a double and two singles. Ross Gload hit a two-run home run to give East Hampton a 3-2 lead in the third. Scott Smith wound up the game with two hits and three runs batted in for the Bonackers, and Shane Davis contributed a pinch-hit double.

    It was the second time that an East Hampton team had been stopped in the district semifinals. Bellport defeated East Hampton 10-8 in extra innings three years ago. Next year, however, may be East Hampton’s year to go to the district finals, something it has never done.