FINAL: Division 5 MacArthur 1
WP: Brandon O’Brien
Vinny Inciarrano: 2 RBI’s pic.twitter.com/CWUy7GGkgI aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 15, 2017
For the first time in 17 years, the two powerhouses of Levittown met on the diamond in a highly-anticipated contest. It was the Division Blue Dragons who came on top, defeating MacArthur by a score of 5-1.
With a crowd of at least 500 people, it was no surprise that this game was a thriller.
On the mound, Quinnipiac-commit Bobby Lewis (6-2) received the starting bid for MacArthur and St. Joseph’s-commit Brandon O’Brien (6-1) got the start for Division. Both pitchers have been in their varsity rotations for three years and are the aces of their respective programs.
Was it set up for a pitcher’s duel? Absolutely.
Things started to get wild early in this game, as Division was able to load the bases with nobody out in the top of the 2nd inning. Vinny Inciarrano cashed in on a sacrifice fly, giving Division an early 1-0 lead. Inciarrano would finish the game with two sacrifice flies, which both wound up being crucial RBI’s.
“Facing a pitcher that’s as skilled as Bobby is always tough. You have to take the right approach at the plate and wait for your pitch,” stated Inciarrano.
Although Division scratched across a run early, MacArthur answered right back on a Joe Keller RBI up the middle.
The ballgame then stay tied for the next few innings, in which both teams left several runners in scoring position.
Headed into the 6th inning, Lewis was facing a high pitch-count of 89. This meant it was Division’s opportunity to break through.
With the Quinnipiac-commit getting fatigued, Hunter Traenkle took advantage and kicked things off in the top of the sixth with a lead off double. The Melgar brothers followed with base hits of their own, making it a 2-1 ballgame and forcing the Generals Head Coach to remove Lewis from the game.
He would finish the contest with three earned runs, suffering his 2nd loss of the season.
The Blue Dragons finished the top half of the 6th inning with three runs scored and suddenly it was a 4-1 ballgame in their favor. MacArthur never made a real threat of making a comeback in the final two frames, as Division came out victorious.
Pitch count may have been an issue on paper for Brandon O’Brien, but he certainty showed no sign of slowing down. O’Brien finished the ballgame with 111 pitches, allowing only one run and scattering five hits.
“All of my pitches were working well today, especially my fastball. I kept getting ahead early in the count and that helped me the whole game.”
With the win, Division will play the Plainedge Red Devils tomorrow on the road. As for MacArthur, they face Mineola tomorrow in an elimination game. We will have live in-game coverage of the Division-Plainedge game. You won’t want to miss that.
