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Sports

Syosset Baseball Falls to Hicksville in Conference Opener

Left field "fence" is point of issue as Hicksville tops Syosset Monday, 3-1.

The most significant story line in Monday’s Syosset Braves-Hicksville Comets baseball game didn’t surround a player. It didn’t involve a coach, either. Sure, both those roles played a major part in the game, but neither had as much influence as a fence. Well, half a fence.

It appeared a 3-1 Hicksville victory over the Braves at Hicksville High School was going to be the story as the sixth inning began. Comets pitcher Sean Bragg was perfect through five innings, barely allowing a fly ball to leave the infield. Suddenly, the early spring afternoon turned controversial.

Syosset’s Dylan Jaloza broke up the bid with an infield single. Joe Morris followed with another single.  Two outs later, an Eric Graber fly ball was caught behind a makeshift fence in left field. Graber, instead of tying the game with a home run, was called out. This ended the Braves first offensive threat.

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Although no official fence exists in the outfield at Hicksville High School, a small one that prevents outfielders from slamming into the adjacent football field bleachers does. Because the Comets’ left fielder was shaded towards center, the path of Graber’s hit caused him to make the catch beyond the fence. After a lengthy deliberation, umpires determined that the fence was a safety precaution and not part of play.

The Braves staged another rally in the top of the seventh inning. James Cohan, who led off the inning with a double, scored on a Steven Rapfogel single. But that would be all Syosset could muster, leaving Rapfogel on first and coming out on the short end of a very controversial stick.

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Hicksville’s big inning came in the fourth. Two runs were scored on a long Matt Pagan single. The game deciding hit came after four consecutive walks. A run didn’t score on the fourth walk because Hicksville’s Joseph Enderle was picked off at second base midway through the inning.

Brandon Varolian took the loss for Syosset, allowing one run on three hits in three innings of work.

The loss drops the Braves to 0-1 in Conference AA-I and 1-3 overall. Hicksville is 1-0 in conference play and 3-1 overall.

Hero: Cohan - Wearing his co-captaincy on his sleeve, Cohan did everything to try and get the Braves the breakthrough run that had eluded them all afternoon. After his double, Cohan quickly moved to third on an errant throw to second. It was the kind of baseball smarts that the program preaches. Varolian also pitched great for the Braves, allowing only one run in his three innings.

Turning Point: The fence incident - If ruled a home run, it would have tied the game. If ruled a ground-rule double, it would have extended the Braves rally and left them within one run of tying. This would have been an incredible turn of events given the offensive struggles that plagued the Braves for the first five innings. The controversy seemed to inspire Syosset, but with only one more turn at the plate, they ran out of time.

Quotable: Both coaches declined comment following the game.

Bottom Line: No one can blame Syosset for feeling cheated. Quirky ground rules can sometimes cause frustration, but rarely do they have as direct an outcome on the game. However, it can’t be forgotten that Syosset went five innings without a base runner. Bragg was fantastic for the Comets. 

The focus now shifts to Tuesday’s game at Will Syosset take the disappointment of Monday’s loss and come out strong or will the bats continue to struggle?   

Key Stat: Hicksville’s Bragg had six strikeouts before allowing a hit.

Who’s Next: Hicksville @ Syosset, Tuesday 4pm.

Box Score:

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F Syosset 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Hicksville 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3

WP: Bragg

LP: Varolian

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