BY ADAM RONIS
It has been a long time since Central Islip attained victory. So long, CI coach Roy Pakett wasn't sure of the exact losing streak until he looked it up. Central Islip last won in May 2006 and had lost 40 consecutive games until beating first-place Commack, 3-2, today.
"I'm very proud that we had the lead and didn't back down," Pakett said. "We had an outstanding pitching performance. They're used to a bad outcome."
Michael Cruz hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Central Islip (1-13) a 3-2 lead in League II. Commack had first and third in the top of the seventh with no outs and on a suicide squeeze the batter popped it up to the pitcher and he threw to first to get the double play. The next batter flew out to rightfield to end the game. Richard Savwoir threw a seven-hitter, struck out four, walked two and allowed two earned runs. Central Islip won for the first time since 2006. Central Islip had lost 38 straight games dating back to the beginning of last season. Commack is 10-4.
"The overall improvement since day one has been phenomenal," Pakett said. "We practice six days a week, three hours a day regardless what our record is."
Commack beat Central Islip, 9-0 on Monday.
This is the sixth season for Pakett as coach at CI. The team was the No. 5 seed in the playoffs his first year and it has been all downhill since.
"All of a sudden, we couldn't win," Pakett said. "We don't have the depth to compete in League II. Our goal is just to be comeptitive. We lose 7-3 and we're happy."
But the team was rewarded for staying upbeat in a season in which its closest defeat was 5-2.
"It was fabulous," Pakett said. "This is proof you never give up. These guys always play hard."
CI has lost by an average of 8.8 runs.