BASEBALL>> HALF HOLLOW HILLS WEST 9, SMITHTOWN WEST 2
Colts Sweep Bulls Off Their Hooves
Pitchers come up big to give Half Hollow Hills West a lift before taking on Bellport
By Luann Dallojacono/ ldallojacono@longislandernews.com

The baseball field is a dirty place – just take one look at what happens to the white baseball uniforms of the Half Hollow Hills West Colts - but these ball players know the best way to clean up dirt is to do a little sweeping every once in a while.

Sweeping of the other team, that is.

The Colts brought out their brooms last week and took all three games in a series against the Smithtown West Bulls. The wins lifted the Colts to a 10-2 league record and a 13-2 record overall, putting them at the top of the ladder in League IV.

“Going into it we knew they were a pretty good team, one of the better teams in the league,” said senior Chris Pabisch, who pitched the first game of the series on April 30. Pabisch gave up 1 earned run on 3 hits and struck out six to secure a 12-2 win for the Colts. He also brought a strong bat to the game; he went 3-for-5 with six RBIs and, in the seventh inning, took a pitch that was down low and in the zone the opposite way for a grand slam.

“It was my first one ever; it felt pretty good,” said Pabisch. “I’ve been practicing on trying to hit my pitch instead of swinging at everything because that’s what I used to do.”

Hills West took a close 2-1 victory in the second game of the series when junior pitcher/shortstop Max Greenough singled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning with the game tied at 1 to score Anthony Surber for the winning run.

As the third game approached, Greenough, last year’s League V MVP, said he was thinking that winning the game would mean big things for the Colts.

“It would be great momentum going into the Bellport series,” said the junior, who pitched the third game in the series. “I just had to throw strikes, get everyone out and keep the score low. I had to keep as many runs down as possible.”

And that, he did. Hills West won the game 9-2. Greenough struck out five over his six innings and went 3-for-4 with a double, and senior captain Alex Aurrichio blasted a homerun in the fourth inning.

Players said the team’s success can be attributed in large part to their pitching and defense. The group hasn’t given up more than 4 runs in a game so far this season, and has taken the best of three games from Riverhead, Copiague and Deer Park.

“Pitching and defense has pretty much kept us in every game,” said Pabisch. “If you don’t give up runs and you don’t make errors you’re gonna win the game.”

“I think the key is pitching has been awesome,” said Greenough, adding that the team has been coming along offensively lately as well despite a slow start. “We’ve all been hitting better; we’ve scored more runs every game. We just seem to be concentrating more at the plate.”

Coming up for the Colts are series against Bellport and West Babylon. Players said they’re focused on continuing to play their game and working to keep their focus.
“We realized we can really do something special and, especially for the seniors, that makes us keep our focus,” said Pabisch.

“We’re just gonna go out there, and pitching and defense will keep us in the game,” said Greenough. “That’s Hills West baseball right there.”