On a rain filled night, with the District Championship game moved to the opponents home field to take advantage of better field conditions, the 10U Blue Hawks showed character and grit to come back from an early 4-0 hole against Hicksville in the District 32 Championship. 

Lead by 4 1/3 sterling innings by Brandon M., great defensive plays by every player and the fine catching of Jason B. the Hawks chipped away at the early deficit. A Brandon M. 4th inning RBI single broke the ice, and then the floodgates were setup in the 5th by consecutive doubles ftom Nick F., Zach S. and Matt S. and a single by Sam H. which lead to three runs to tie the game. Both teams traded scoreless innings in the 6th.

In the 7th a double by Sam S. scored Zach S. to take the lead in the first of two extra innings. The Hawks struggled with the top of the lineup allowing a run to score to tie it in the bottom of the 7th on a sac fly. Then the rains came and nearly washed out the game. Once the rain broke, winning piitcher, Alex W., in relief commanded the mound with runners on 2nd and third and fielded a comebacker for the 3rd out.

The 8th inning brought glory to the Hawks. Brandon M. doubled to start the inning. With Pulaski as a pinch runner, Nick R. singled to drive in the potential game winner.

The defense needed to hold in the bottom of the 8th. An early bunt single some baserunning brought the tying runner to third. With the next batter walking and trying to steal second, he was tagged out by a savvy Matt B. A play later with the runner on 3rd, the combacker was fielded to Zach S.. who cleanly threw it to 1st for the 2nd out, then Brandon M. connected with Jason B. at the plate to complete the double-play and the victory.

The Hawks enter sectional play against Massapequa Coast on Wed, July 14th at 8pm at John Burns Park and have games scheduled for Thursday and Saturday.