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Game of the Week Powered by Ken Kortright State Farm: Late Game Heroics Lead Hauppauge to Suffolk Class AA Crown

by Trevor Dugan

Middle Country Park hosted several exciting championship games this weekend, but Sunday’s matchup between Hauppauge High School and Eastport-South Manor High School may have been the most thrilling of all. 

Hauppauge staged a comeback for the ages to win their second Suffolk County Class AA Championship in three seasons, defeating Eastport-South Manor 5-4 after trailing 3-0 entering the sixth inning. 

Junior first baseman Matthew Oliveto ripped a go-ahead two-run double during Hauppauge’s five-run sixth inning, earning him GameChanger player of the game honors. 

Junior right-handed pitcher Kevin Hoeler got the start for Hauppauge, allowing three runs across 3.2 innings pitched while striking out four. Starting on the mound for ESM was sophomore RHP Gabe Sikora, who took a shutout into the sixth inning before Hauppauge’s offense came alive. 

Sikora began the game by striking out three batters in a scoreless top of the first. His offense gave him a two-run cushion in the bottom of the second, as junior second baseman Connor Minihane ripped an RBI single to center field to score Memphis Lanier and Logan Walsh. 

As Sikora continued cruising, ESM extended their lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Minihane was hit by a pitch with two outs, prompting Hauppauge to replace Hoeler with junior RHP Nick Poulos. The first batter he faced was senior shortstop Brady McGowan, who smashed an RBI double to score Minihane from first. 

With a three-run lead and just one hit allowed entering the top of the sixth, Sikora and ESM seemed well on their way to a county title, but Hauppauge’s offense awoke with a fury to seize the lead with a five-run inning. 

Hauppauge senior center fielder Tucker Brown led the inning off by getting plunked in the back, then scored from first on a double by junior left fielder Kyle Magill to trim the lead to 3-1. Magill then moved up to third on a single by Roman Dixon, before sophomore second baseman Nick Lombardi drove them both home with an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. 

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Sikora got the next two outs, then surrendered a single to Giuseppe Calabrese, prompting his removal from the game. Senior RHP Brennan Morrison entered to face Oliveto with runners on the corners. 

Oliveto certainly rose to the occasion. The junior smashed a two-run double over the heads of the ESM outfielders, scoring both Lombardi and Calabrese to give Hauppauge a 5-3 lead and send his dugout into a frenzy.

“Matthew’s put together some of the best at bats on the team the last three weeks, and came through again today,” Hauppauge head coach Josh Gutes said after the win. “He and his brother are both super competitive, and as high character people as have ever come through this program. They’re one of my all-time favorite families.”

In Hauppauge’s dugout, there was never any doubt. 

“That sixth inning was nerve wracking, but I felt confident we were going to win every step of the way,” Hoeler added. “We never let off the gas; we always keep fighting, and that’s what makes us so good as a team.”

ESM would score once more in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by the center fielder Lanier, cutting Hauppauge’s lead to 5-4 with two outs, but Magill would take the mound from left field to record the final out and clinch Hauppauge’s second win over ESM in less than 24 hours, securing the Suffolk County Class AA championship. 

Coach Gutes was brimming with pride when discussing this year’s Hauppauge squad after the game. 

“I love the enthusiasm they bring every single day, the camaraderie they have,” coach Gutes explained. “Our time together is not just about baseball, you can see it in how the guys root for each other; they’re always happy for the other person, as if it’s better than their own success, and that’s been our mantra here.” 

Hauppauge is now moving on to the Long Island Class AA Championship against Nassau County champion Bellmore John F. Kennedy High School. The game will be played Saturday, June 6, 3:30 P.M. at Farmingdale State College.Â