East Meadow baseball's Daron Lake hits walk-off RBI single to beat MacArthur
Daron Lake is mobbed by East Meadow teammates after singling home winning run in bottom of seventh against MacArthur on Thursday, April 17, 2025. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Daron Lake has developed a knack for the clutch.
The East Meadow senior leftfielder, who had a walk-off fielder’s choice in a non-league win over Calhoun on April 1, stepped to the plate against MacArthur on Thursday in a tie ballgame with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the infield in and the outfield at shallow depth, Lake barreled a 1-and-1 pitch to rightfield for a walk-off single that scored Trevor Smith in host East Meadow’s 3-2 victory in a Nassau Conference AA-I baseball game.
“I definitely feel like I have a lot of confidence in those situations,” Lake said. “I put in the work to be able to perform in high-pressure situations.”
Said coach Bill O’Connor: “He's got a pretty good approach. He goes right-center a lot, so I felt pretty good with the matchup. Just felt confident in the kid. I thought he was due for a big hit at the right time. In this situation with the infield up, the outfield’s up — I had a pretty good feeling about that.”
Leadoff hitter Eric Garcia and Smith worked back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the seventh for East Meadow (7-3, 4-2).
MacArthur (7-2, 5-1) played perfect bunt defense in the ensuing at-bat, getting the force out at third. But after Smith stole third with one out, Joe Lanza was intentionally walked to load the bases for Lake.
“Before in the game, I hadn't gotten a hit,” Lake said. “Our bench had a lot of energy, gave me the confidence to step up in there and win it for the team.”
Said pitcher Alec Coelho: “This guy, he comes through in the clutch.”
MacArthur took a 1-0 lead on Dylan Tripi’s RBI sac fly in the top of the first inning. East Meadow went ahead 2-1 in the bottom half after Ryan Lauth hit an RBI single and Nick Ramalhete scored on a passed ball.
Nick Albert’s RBI infield single evened it at 2 in the second.
Coelho, who has been pitching through a minor back injury, threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for East Meadow. Matt Esslinger earned the win after getting the final two outs in the top of the seventh.
“I felt like I did well, helped the team,” Coelho said. “Matt came in and shoved. He's been doing that all year. That's been his role. He's been coming in, slamming the door.”
The Jets avoided a sweep after losses to MacArthur on Monday and Tuesday.
“They’re a great team,” O’Connor said. “We've been battling, and they've had our number the last two games. We needed to take this one just to kind of stay in the hunt a little bit.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
