By Anthony DiCocco
With two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Chris Vangelatos makes a sliding catch to seal the 5-1 win for St. Dominic. pic.twitter.com/3Qt3cnEBGu
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2026
Despite having several players down with an injury, the St. Dominic Bayhawks paired strong pitching and defense with smart baserunning to take down a Catholic league foe.
While in South Huntington, N.Y., on Friday, the Bayhawks kicked off their weekend on a high note. In a game that was highlighted by four gutsy innings from Ethan Osorio, St. Dominic pulled out a 5-1 win over the St. Anthony’s Friars.
On the mound, Osorio pitched to contact and found success doing so. Over four frames, he allowed one run — a homer by Jacob Vaccariello — on three hits and three walks while recording eight groundball outs, including a double play. Though the southpaw only tallied one strikeout, it loomed large, as he caught a Friar looking with the tying runs on base in the fourth inning to keep the Bayhawks ahead 3-1.
As Osorio navigated through traffic, St. Dominic rewarded its starter by tacking on a trio of early runs. With runners at the corners in the top of the second inning, the Bayhawks put Cristian Moreno in motion at first base, allowing Tyler Camastro to slice an opposite-field single through the vacated hole to pick up a run batted in (RBI) on a well-executed hit-and-run.
During the following inning, Chris Vangelatos delivered a leadoff single before Ray Kim took Vaccariello deep to left-center field as St. Dominic extended its lead to 3-0.
Just like it did in the fourth, St. Anthony’s threatened once again in the fifth with Lucas Moseman on in relief. However, after getting the tying runs on base with two outs, Sebastian Castiello ripped a hard lineout right into Moreno’s glove in left field.
During the top of the sixth, the Bayhawks displayed more savvy baserunning to add some insurance. With runners in scoring position, Hunter Roegge harmlessly threw the ball back to Michael Clare on the mound following a pitch, but Michael Scarry darted down the line to steal home on the return.
Immediately after, Moreno was bouncing at third base and induced a balk, allowing him to trot home with another run.
From there, Connor Ackerman took over on the hill for the Bayhawks and closed things out with the help of his defense.
Ackerman struck out the first two batters he faced in the seventh, but the Friars put two runners on with two outs. Castiello responded by hammering another ball that seemed destined for the left-center field gap, but Vangelatos dashed over and made a sliding grab to put the contest in the books.
From the bullpen, Moseman and Ackerman, who notched three punchouts, combined to twirl three scoreless innings for St. Dominic.
Despite taking the loss, Vaccariello posted solid numbers on the mound. Along with providing the Friars with their lone run, the Stony Brook commit went five innings to the tune of three runs, five hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.
Camastro collected an RBI knock while Kim walked in addition to his two-run blast. Scarry reached base in all three of his plate appearances, walking twice and singling while also swiping home.
With the win, St. Dominic’s overall and league records improved to 8-6 and 7-4, respectively. St. Anthony’s fell to 8-5 overall and 7-5 in Catholic league play.
The Friars will now turn their attention to Commack, who they will take on at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Conversely, the Bayhawks will have additional time to recover, as they are set to square off against New Jersey’s St. Joseph’s Regional Green Knights on Saturday, May 2, at 11 a.m.