Height Doesn’t Measure Heart (HDMH) Titans are a strong young team that is actually playing up a year this summer in the Boys of Summer 17U American division. The Titans dominated right out of the gate in both games and ended up forcing a run-rule in the second game. HDMH is a team that prides itself on strong pitching and defense, but their bats came alive and the dominating result speaks for itself.
Connetquot All-County sophomore outfielder, Jared Yalon, anchors this strong lineup. His day at the plate was capped off with a big 2-RBI double in the second inning of the first game. After the bottom of the HDMH order all worked tough at bats, Yalon in the two spot, came up and split the outfielders to give the Titans their fifth and sixth runs early in the game.
“We just focus on defense and throwing strikes really,” said Yalon. “All we had to do is throw strikes and stay focused at the plate.”
The Patriots scored in in the top of the third after Anthony Daniello reached first on an E6 with one out. Daniello also lead off the second game for the Patriots by cracking a fly ball double that short hopped the wall off the hard throwing Titans RHP, Anthony Cinquemani.
The Titans called upon Smithtown East RHP Doug Goodwin to start the first game of the duplex. Goodwin demonstrated an impressive mix of pitches and speeds that kept the Patriots’ lineup on its toes. The HDMH pitcher was an important part of a pitching staff at Smithtown East that was remarkable. Goodwin, the sophomore, came away from the 2017 spring season a league three all-star.
“I thought I did pretty well today but I know I can do better,” Goodwin said. “I have a really strong and athletic defense behind me so I just have to pitch to contact and let them make plays.”
Just about every Titan reached base between the two games. Even though they dominated the scoreboard, they made sure that they did not take their opponent lightly. The Titans never let up and they were constantly making heads up base running plays due to the extremely deep backstop at PAL Stadium.
“It’s good, you know you’re going to get a lot of work [in the summer] and you know that you’re going to improve because of the amount of work,” Goodwin said. “I had two great coaches including Ken Klee at Smithtown East, and it just feels good to know that I have smart people behind me.”
A heavy workload is exactly what this Titans team is looking at for this summer, as they will be traveling for the whole month of July and the beginning of August for tournaments. HDMH will be all over the country playing in big tournaments in states across the east coast but also in other regions like New Mexico and Ohio. The Titans are confident in their 19-man squad, who was without a notable RHP in Miami (FL) commit Jason Diaz for this double header.
