The LI Elite 2020 South were set to face off against the LI Titans Molinaro in the 16U American division of the Boys of Summer on Thursday at 6 o’clock on Thursday evening. An hour prior to the planned start time, there was some doubt regarding whether or not the game would be played. From about 5:00 to 6:00, there was constant, heavy rainfall, with booming thunder as lightning constantly flashed across the sky. The sun soon emerged, and played its part in helping to dry up the field. At approximately 7 PM, the game finally started.
Lorenzo Petraglia led off for the Elite, and he worked a lead off walk against Titans pitcher, Anthony Hernandez. Jason Labrador followed up with a single, putting Elite in a position to strike early. The following batter, Mike Sullivan, reached on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop. With runners on the corners, Nick Petraglia hit a single to drive in Lorenzo Petraglia, giving his team a 1-0 lead. A double to right-center field by Brandon Martinez brought in another run. Elite scored their final run of the inning via a Patrick Connors sacrifice fly to left field.
The Titans looked to answer back in the bottom half of the first inning, losing 3-0. They would have to do so against a southpaw, Joe Palacio. The Titans leadoff batter, Dominick Schock, hit a hard ground ball down the left field line, but got thrown out at second base trying to stretch it to a double. The next two batters were then retired via ground out and strikeout.
Elite had a chance to extend their lead in the top half of the second inning, with a new pitcher, Dominick Schock, now in the game. They proceeded to load the bases, but with two outs, Sullivan popped out, and the threat was neutralized.
Sloppy defense by Elite allowed the Titans to come back in the bottom half of the frame. A combination of three errors, a walk, and a wild pitch resulted in the Titans tying the game, 3-3.
Neither team appeared to have another opportunity to do damage until the top of the fourth, when Elite had runners on second and third base with only one out. The top of their order was up, but Schock again worked out of trouble, striking out Lorenzo Petraglia and getting Labrador to weakly pop out.
With the sun continuing its descent, the fifth inning seemed like it would be the last. Elite was determined to pull off a win. A leadoff walk by Sullivan, followed by a deep double by Nick Petraglia put them in an excellent situation. The following batter, Martinez, hit a ground ball to the third baseman, who checked the runner back to third, and then threw to first. However, an errant throw resulted in Martinez being safe at first, and Elite having the bases loaded with no outs.
The Titans made a pitching change, bringing in Jason Brown to try to work his way out of trouble. A passed ball allowed Sullivan to score, giving Elite a 4-3 lead. Brown settled down, escaping the inning without allowing another run.
Palacio’s day on the mound was over, going four strong innings, and keeping his team in the game. Lorenzo Petraglia was now in to slam the door shut, with very little sunlight remaining. He induced back to back lineouts, and was one out away from ending the game. However, Kevin Maloney was not yet ready for the game to be over, as he hit a line drive single to left. Petraglia bounced back with a strikeout, and the game was over, due to darkness.
