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Sports

Bayport Hands West Islip Little Leaguers Their First Loss

First inning homer sparks Bayport rout

The West Islip 11-year-olds were unable to string two wins together, as they were  hammered Thursday night by Bayport 8-1 in their second game of the Williamsport Little League tournament.

"At least the kids battled hard, but it didn't come our way," said West Islip's manager Mike Montiglio. "We're going to regroup and come out hard at the next game. We're not done yet."

The tone for the evening was set in the first inning when a member of the Bayport team hit a three-run home run, accidentally clobbering a passerby on the head with the ball in the process. Luckily, the man beyond the fence wasn't injured.

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In the second inning, Bayport scored another run by stealing home, but West Islip managed to finally net a run for themselves, closing out the inning 4-1. By then, it was already apparent that this game was not going to be the cakewalk they had against Port Washington; Bayport  simply outmanned West Islip.

"They're up against a much better team tonight than they were last night," said George Hearns, who was watching his brother-in-law's son play that evening,

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However, this development didn't stop the West Islip team from giving it their all in attempt to make a comeback.

The third inning saw a spark of hope ignite as a West Islip line drive up the foul line put two men on base.  But their efforts were denied after Bayport outfielders caught  two consecutive fly balls, ending Islip's turn at bat. Bayport then upped their lead to 5-1 after a missed throw to second base enabled another runner to cross home.

"They're on fire," said a West Islip parent of Bayport's performance.

At one point during the fourth, a West Islip player was tagged as he attempted to steal second, ending the inning. He laid there for several long seconds, obviously dejected, reminding everyone of the emotional stress the game can have on its young participants. But eventually he got up, dusted himself off, and joined his teammates, finding new resolve to turn things around for his team.

"They just out-hit us a little bit," Montiglio said.  "We just didn't have everything in place tonight, but we're saving it for the championship."

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