Calhoun outlasts Mepham, 5-4

After keeping visiting Mepham off the scoreboard in the top of the ninth inning after it loaded the bases with one out, Calhoun didn’t squander its own opportunity to end the back-and-forth Conference AA-III baseball game on Monday afternoon.

The Colts walked-off for their ninth win in the last 10 games when Billy Salomon’s infield grounder led to an errant throw to the plate, allowing Dylan Hughes to score for a 5-4 victory. Hughes, who was scheduled to pitch the regular-season finale two days later, got the win in relief tossing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts.

The outcome moved Calhoun (11-2) within one victory of the conference title and a bye into the quarterfinals of the Nassau Class AA playoffs, which begin this Saturday. The Pirates (9-4), who are also playoff bound, out-hit the hosts by a 12-6 margin but left 11 runners on base.

“We were a little shaky defensively today, but we toughened up when we had to,” Colts coach Art Canestro said. “Mepham can really hit the ball. It’s a big win and we need one more to clinch.”

Hughes, who leads Calhoun in wins (five) as well as batting average and RBIs, had a no-hitter a week earlier against Long Beach. He escaped the jam in Mepham’s ninth with a strikeout and grounder to second. “When Rob [Backus] reached his pitch limit and we needed to go with someone else, Dylan volunteered,” Canestro said. “We felt the game was there for the taking, so we left him in.”

Backus had just one easy inning against the Pirates’ talented lineup. He gave up a run-scoring single to Sean Napier in the first, but took matters into his own hands with a two-run homer over the fence in left in the bottom of the inning off Mepham starter Nick Taratko, who worked a complete game, for a 2-1 lead.

“Nick pitched his heart out,” Mepham coach Bill Murphy said. “He located his pitches well all day and kept the count down. He was a warrior on the mound and gave us a chance to win.”

The Pirates tied it in the top of the third on Mike Valentino’s long blast over the fence in left-center, his second of four hits on the afternoon. Connor Hannon’s sac fly gave Calhoun a 3-2 lead after three innings, but Mepham pulled even again in the fourth when Kevin Chaimowitz singled and eventually came around to score on an error.

The Colts took their third lead of the day in the fifth when eighth-grade catcher Matt Pelcher singled with two outs, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jake Garguilo’s single. Backus, who fanned seven, had to settle for a no-decision after Mepham pushed across the tying run in the sixth on Matt Conry’s single that plated Chaimowitz.