https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yVp_42nMk
Alex Schweitzer (Sachem North ’17) dominated on the mound for the LI Expos, tossing a complete game shutout. Over his seven innings of work the lanky RHP struck out ten batters and only walked one. Schweitzer dominated through out, relying predominantly on his curveball to frustrate the National’s hitters.
“Coach has been really helping me out with my curveball,” said Schweitzer. “During the school ball season it was on and off, but since my change up wasn’t working today I had to rely on my curveball more to keep hitters off balance.”
Expos open up a 1-0 lead after Greg Sanderson hit a 2-out triple Dan Oster drove him in with a single. 1-0 after 3 full innings. pic.twitter.com/rtxQABS8Hg
— aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) July 17, 2017
The Expos’ lone run would come in the third inning with two outs. Their leadoff hitter, Greg Sanderson, would drive a triple to the right-center gap that would reach the fence. This set the table for two-hitter Dan Oster (Kings Park ’18) who would drive in Sanderson with a single after falling behind to Nationals LHP James Castaldi.
“It was tied at zero at the time so I knew I needed to get a big hit,” Oster said. “Our pitcher was throwing great so we knew just one run would be enough to win the game.”
Both teams flashed the leather in the field, as they combined for just one run off 16 hits. The Expos struggled throughout the game converting runs into hits after scoring just one run off ten hits.
“Our confidence is definitely up, the team has been gelling well,” Schweitzer said. “Today the offense wasn’t what it has been the past couple games, usually I’m on the mound feeling great with a big lead but today was more of a nail biter.”
Both teams have showcased strong performances thus far in the Town of Brookhaven Summer Varsity Black division. This made for an evenly-matched contest that did end up being a nail biter.
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In the bottom half of the seventh, Schweitzer struck out the first two batters he faced, but he walked the third. After the walk he was at 103 pitches, and Brookhaven’s limit is 105 but allows the pitcher to finish the batter. Schweitzer’s control was beginning to falter but the tall right hander dug deep and forced the batter to ground out to second earning himself a complete game shutout.
“I used to struggle to get my curveball into the zone but more recently I have been using it in 0-0 or 1-0 counts just to keep hitters off balance,” Schweitzer said. “But the curveball primarily is my go-to strikeout pitch.”
Schweitzer’s curve really was working well as he mixed in a solid fastball with a nice two-seam/cutter pitch to compliment. Directly after the Expos took their lead the Nationals came right back with a leadoff single from their two-hitter, Chris Moraltis, and a wild pitch put him on second with no one out. Schweitzer was unfazed showing his confidence in his command striking out the next three batters in order to end the inning.
The Expos remain in first place after this win and they are set to pick up play on Thursday against the Huntington Blue Devils. First pitch is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. from Medford Athletic Complex. The Nationals are also set to play Thursday at Medford, but at 6 p.m. they will be the home team against Smithtown Bulls Red.
