Long Island Baseball was searching for their first win against Diamond Baseball Academy. Although they got things going early, scoring a run in the first inning, they were ultimately unable to come away with the victory, losing by a score of 5-1.
Nick Cortes was on the mound for DBA, and it was a shaky first inning for him. He allowed a leadoff double to Joseph Apuzzo, who later came around to score on Michael Aplin’s single to right field. The following batter was then hit with a pitch, but was erased on a fielder’s choice, which left runners on the corners with two outs. Cortes came up with a big strikeout to escape any further damage.
On the mound for LI Baseball was Mac Cooper, who got two quick outs. It all unraveled from there, as he gave up a triple to Nick Pinggera. The following batter hit a single to drive in Pinggera, and he advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt. Casey Gunnell then hit a grounder to the third baseman, who made an error, bringing another run in, and allowing Gunnell to advance to second base. A single and a walk left the bases loaded for Gerard O’Hare, who worked a walk to make it a 3-1 game. Further damage was avoided, as Cooper struck out Ed Holyat to end the inning.
Nick Cortes fired five strong innings in a 5-1 victory for Diamond Baseball Academy in a 16U Boys of Summer Scout Division match up @liboysofsummer . Full story coming to https://t.co/B4yBDKVYGz tonight pic.twitter.com/z9YWvQfTAA
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 1, 2018
The score remained 3-1 until the bottom of the third inning. Pat Mahan reached second base after the LI Baseball third baseman committed an error. Mahan advanced to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, Christopher Olszewski popped a ball up to shallow right field. It appeared to be the third out of the inning, but it was dropped by the second baseman, allowing Mahan to score to make it 4-1. After a pair of walks, Cooper’s day on the mound was done, and the new pitcher got a quick popout to escape the jam.
DBA extended their lead in an unusual way in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Back to back batters were hit by pitches, and then moved into scoring position by a balk. The following two batters, Jack Hoy, and Pinggera, worked walks, to force in a a run and make it a 5-1 game.
Cortes went back out to the mound for the fifth inning, allowing two baserunners, but got out of the inning when his third baseman made a fantastic diving play, then making a strong throw over to first. That would prove to be the end of the day for Cortes, going five innings, allowing only one run, while striking out three.
On his strong day on the mound, Cortes gave credit to his defense, saying “our defense is great, and we do really good together.”
Pat Mahan was the new pitcher for DBA in the sixth inning. After getting two quick outs, he walked three straight batters to load the bases. He bounced back with a strikeout to get out of the jam.
The bottom half of the inning was not finished, as the game hit the one hour and fifty minute time limit, resulting in a 5-1 victory for Diamond Baseball Academy, improving their record to 9-10, while Long Island Baseball drops to 0-15.
