Smithtown East vs Connetquot

HIGHLIGHTS

Connetquot 5, Smithtown East 4: Aaron Gagliano lined a one-out walk-off single to drive in Christian Nissen from second base in the seventh inning to give Connetquot a stirring 5-4 win over Smithtown East in the deciding game of a best-of-three series in the Suffolk Class AA semifinals in Bohemia. The win moved top-seeded Connetquot (21-3) into the best-of-three championship series against second-seeded Ward Melville (21-2) tomorrow at noon in Bohemia. “He says stay on top and I stay on top of the pitch,” said Gagliano, after he emerged from a swarm of happy teammates. “They battled back in the seventh inning and we responded.” Smithtown East (17-5) used a two-out, three-run rally to tie the score at 4 in the top of the seventh. Matt DiPietro and Matt Milne lined run-scoring singles to tie the score. Gagliano also had a two-run single earlier in the game to give the Thunderbirds a 4-1 lead. Starter John Hengge went 6 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and one earned run.