Nolan Britt helps Connetquot clinch third straight league title

Nolan Britt took the mound in an uncomfortable situation for most. But not for him. The Connetquot pitcher thrives off taking the ball in a game’s pivotal moments and silencing the opponent.

Britt entered in relief with Connetquot leading by two runs in the sixth inning after Smithtown East loaded the bases with one out and the top of the order due up. Britt got the first batter to ground out to shortstop as Erick Duignan stepped on second base and threw to first to complete the double play. Britt gave an excited yell and a glance as he walked off the mound.

“Nothing was going through my head, but the words ‘Let’s Go’ just came out my mouth," Britt said. “I was starng down their dugout, showing them who was boss.”

Britt followed with a scoreless seventh inning as host Connetquot defeated Smithtown East, 6-4, in Suffolk League III baseball Monday. He got the final batter of the game to ground to second baseman Colin Beisel, who stepped on second and threw to first to complete a double play.

Connetquot (15-1) clinched its third straight league title with the victory, coach Rob Burger said. Smithtown East falls to 11-5.

“I did my job, I thought I did well and we saw today as a must-win,” Britt said. “It’s always great to have opportunities like that, I felt locked into the situation.”

Smithtown East used a three-run top of the fourth to take a 4-1 advantage, highlighted by James Ackerman’s RBI double and RBI singles from Kurt Schneider and Cole Conte.

But Connetquot didn’t take long to respond. The T-Birds scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-4 lead.

“That was huge,” Rocco Armenia said. “They punched us in the face but we punched back. We always find a way, our offense always comes through. Our pitching is usually on, but our bats always figure it out.”

Armenia had a two-run single on a full count in the frame, driving in Justin Wilkinson and Ryan Kiendle, to cut Smithtown East’s lead to 4-3.

“It was a long at-bat, I just wanted to stay calm in the box and I took a deep breath,” Armenia said. “I knew it was coming and I did my job and got a base hit and scored some runs.”

Connetquot tied the score on a fielder’s choice and a throwing error on Duignan’s ensuing at-bat, scoring Ryan Cerone.

After Rob Page was hit by a pitch, Anthony Scarabino hit a two-run single between the third baseman and shortstop to drive in Armenia and Duignan to break the tie at 4.

“I had a lot of confidence,” Scarabino said. “You have to expect to be able to do the job and I wasn’t trying to do too much. I just got it through the infield and that’s all we needed at that point.”

“They made a mistake and that’s what Anthony does, he capitalizes on mistakes,” Burger said. “He squeezed the ball through the left side of the infield and just got the team rolling. I saw the guys up against the fence and I just knew that was a turning point in the game.”

Burger was impressed, but not surprised, by how his team responded from Smithtown East’s fourth inning.

“That just shows the fight of this team, no matter the score,” Burger said. “We’ve been down a couple of times this year late in the game but there’s no quit in this team.”

Securing the league title was one of Connetquot’s goals this season. But the T-Birds have more ahead – like a potential Suffolk Class AA championship run and beyond.

“Of course this is special but we’re not done yet,” Britt said. “There’s more we want to achieve.”