Orlando's double helps Bilello get 'W'
Spencer Bilello likes to close. He likes the adrenaline rush, he likes the pressure, and he likes being able to pick his team up in those dicey late-inning situations to which he's become accustomed.
It's a give and take, the St. Dominic righthander said: "My team carries me when I need it and I like to carry my team when they need it."
Tuesday in the Bayhawks' eight-inning, 5-3 win over host St. John the Baptist (5-3), he experienced both in a relatively short span of time. Bilello blew the two-inning save in the sixth after inheriting two runners with no outs, watched as teammate Vinny Orlando stroked a two-out, two-run double to left in the top of the eighth to retake the lead, and came right back and shut down the Cougars in the final two innings for the "W."
"After playing with these guys for four years, we've had each other's backs through everything," Orlando said. "Especially having a lot of seniors and being around each other all the time, we can always fight back no matter what the score is."
That certainly holds true for him. With the score tied at 3 and two outs in the eighth, Orlando crawled out of a two-strike hole against reliever Chris Lemorocco -- working the count to 3-and-2 and fouling off two pitches before stroking an inside fastball to leftfield to score runners from first and second.
It was a gritty at-bat and one that got nothing but praise from coach Rick Garrett. "We got a big hit," Garrett said of his senior second baseman. "It's been about the senior leadership on this team . . . They know they can come back at any time."
It's a roller coaster worth the price of admission, Bilello said, though perhaps it didn't feel that way during SJB's three-run sixth.
Down 3-0, Kyle Collins led off the inning with a well-struck line single to left. Innocuous as it seemed, it was the first Cougars hit to leave the infield and a sign that Yonah Perline, a sidearmer whose pitches seemed to dance in the lower half of the strike zone, was tiring. Perline walked the next batter and was relieved by Bilello, who promptly served up a first-pitch mistake to Joe Longo, who drilled a double to deep left to score Collins.
One out later, Marc Torres hit another double to left to tie the score at 3.
The Bayhawks (5-1) threatened in the seventh but ran themselves out of the inning on a caught stealing at third and a play at the plate. In the eighth, Tim Volberg and Lou Lambros walked to set the stage for Orlando's game-winning at-bat. It was all Bilello would need, as he allowed no hits in the final two innings and struck out four.
"He's perfect for that role," Orlando said of his closer. "It's his head, his mind-set -- like he's better than everyone else."
Orlando paused as Bilello scoffed.
"In a positive way. In a really positive way. He's the man."
Nice save.
Yankees pushed to brink, game 3 wrap ... Queens County Farm ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
Yankees pushed to brink, game 3 wrap ... Queens County Farm ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV