Sports

Staten Island’s comeback kids fall short in second game of Mid-Atlantic regional

The team that has come back so many times this summer just couldn’t complete another big rally last night.

Down two runs in the top of the sixth, Great Kills American had runners on the corners with no outs, but was unable to come up with the big hit in a 5-3 loss to Keystone (Pa.) in its second game of the Little League Mid-Atlantic regional at Breen Field in Bristol, Conn.

“We were there,” GKA manager Frank Cambria said. “We had the shot. We just needed one hit. One shot would have did it.”

Jonathan Carbonella led off the sixth with a double and Tom Bonviso followed with a single to push Carbonella to third. Mike Briordy and Jonathon Hlad both struck out, though, against Keystone reliever Tyler McClosky and Antonio Gaudino flew out to left field to end the game.

“We squandered a couple opportunities we had,” Cambria said.

Carbonella, Bonviso and Hayden Gumb each went 2-for-3 while scoring a run. James Greig and Bonviso, who homered, had the team’s only RBIs. Sean Fackovec started and gave up four runs in 3-2/3 innings and Carmine Bruno gave up a run 1-1/3 innings of relief.

For the second straight game, Cambria didn’t go with star reliever Jerry Huntzinger. On Friday, Great Kills didn’t need him, because Greig went the distance, but the manager said he wasn’t used because the umpire had an erratic strike zone.

“I don’t have any issues with Bruno,” Cambria said. “He came in and did what we needed. … [The umpire] didn’t establish a strike zone. Had he done that, I would have brought Jerry in. In the beginning he was calling high strikes. Jerry usually keeps the ball down.”

Great Kills won its opener Friday night, a 7-3 victory over Conococheague (Md.) and will meet Newark (Del.), which is 2-0, today at 3 p.m. The Staten Island squad will need at least two wins to advance to the championship round, which begins Friday.

“I’m confident in my guys to come back tomorrow,” Cambria said.

mraimondi@nypost.com