BASEBALL: Coach Bahns Hopes to Hold Onto Leads

   As of earlier this week, East Hampton High’s baseball team was 1-3 in league play, having seen leads vanish in games with Mount Sinai and Shoreham-Wading River.

    “Finding a way to put teams away when we have a lead will be the focal point for us moving forward,” said Will Collins, who assists Ed Bahns in coaching the Bonackers.

    In the game with Mount Sinai, played here last Thursday, East Hampton went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning on a triple by Brandon Brophy and an r.b.i. grounder by the starting pitcher, Deilyn Guzman.

    A.J. Bennett, the first baseman, led off with a home run in East Hampton’s second at-bat for a 2-0 lead, and, after the visitors got one back in the third, East Hampton replied in the bottom half as another base hit by Brophy drove in Ryan Joudeh, who had led off with a bunt single and had stolen second.

    The Bonackers upped their lead to 4-1 in the fourth. Michael Abreu led off with a triple, and, after Brendan Hughes had lined out and Jimmy McMullan had struck out, Brady Yusko, a freshman who was playing right field, drove in Abreu with a base hit.

    Guzman doubled to begin East Hampton’s fifth, but he was subsequently caught in a rundown on a grounder to the left side by Cameron Yusko. Yusko advanced to second on the play. One out later, Abreu singled, but Yusko was thrown out at the plate.

    Mount Sinai narrowed the gap to 4-3 in the top of the sixth. Guzman struck out the first batter to face him, but walked the next two, the runners advancing to second and third on a groundout to Bennett at first. A two-out, two-run hit to right ensued. Brady Yusko, who dove for the sinking liner, almost came up with it, but the ball went off his glove.

    Hughes walked to start off East Hampton’s sixth, but McMullan and Brady Yusko each popped out in trying to bunt Hughes to second. Joudeh followed with a single, for first and second, but Brophy lined out to right to end the inning.

    Bahns brought Cameron Yusko in to pitch the seventh as Guzman moved to short and Andrew Rodriguez came in to replace Yusko at third.

    Yusko’s first offering was deposited over the fence in left, tying the score at 4-4. Things went downhill from there. A double to the right-field fence and a single to left that followed a strikeout made it 5-4 Mount Sinai. Yusko then sandwiched walks around a strikeout, after which he gave up a two-run base hit through the right side for 7-4. The visitors’ eighth run scored on an error by Rodriguez, and an r.b.i. single up the middle made it 9-4 before Guzman came down with a fly ball hit into shallow left.

    Guzman reached first base safely on a grounder hit to third leading off East Hampton’s last at-bat. Cameron Yusko then hit a long fly ball to center, but it was caught at the fence, after which Bennett grounded into a game-ending double play. The final score was 9-4.

    Afterward, Collins reported that “while it was disappointing, for sure, to lose that game, Coach Bahns noted how well we played for the most part — we didn’t make a lot of errors or mental mistakes. In the end, they just hit our pitches, so you’ve got to tip your cap to them.”

    Collins added that East Hampton was up 6-1 in the fourth inning at Shoreham on Friday only to have Shoreham come back to win it 11-6.