A late-game rally pushed Tuckahoe past Bronxville on Monday, as the Tigers erupted for 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to top their crosstown rivals 17-2 on the road. The victory – Tuckahoe’s eighth of the year – should give the team some much-needed momentum as it prepares for a tough stretch that will see them take on some of the area’s better teams.

Tuckahoe head coach Jerry DeFabbia said that his team’s patience at the plate ultimately paid off on Monday, as the Tigers were able to draw deep counts in the sixth inning en route to turning the 6-2 game into a one-sided affair.

“We spend as much time on our mental approach at the plate as we do on the physical part,” said DeFabbia. “We were trying to grind out at-bats, fight hard with two strikes, really limit the strikeouts and that worked for us.”

But although DeFabbia lauded his team’s offensive explosion in the later innings, he acknowledged that the outcome actually hinged on a battle that took place earlier in the game.

After Bronxville pitcher Owen Jaquette doubled in two runs off Tuckahoe’s Lino Poli in the bottom of the third inning to make it a 3-2 ballgame, Poli came up in the fourth with two outs and two on and a chance to return the favor.

Down to his final strike, he lined a double of his own to give the Tigers a three-run cushion that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Poli would fire a scoreless fourth inning before giving way to lefthander Matt Mondrone in the fifth. Mondrone recorded the final nine outs of the game.

“I think that was the turning point of the game, not only did Lino help his own cause, he helped us answer back,” DeFabbia said. “He has been swinging the bat well over the last week, and he had some good swings in his previous at-bats.”

With the win, the Tigers improved to 8-2 on the year, something DeFabbia attributes to his squad’s gritty playing style and crisp fundamentals. But he knows the Tigers will need to be on point this week as they take on a number of tough customers, including Pelham and Keio.

“We’ve been aggressive on the bases, we’ve been able to throw strikes and minimize walks,” DeFabbia said. “We’ve got a good stretch of games coming up, though, and I think we are going to find out a lot about who we are in the next week or so; these are going to be good games for us to really gauge where we are at this point.”