The Long Island Lightning took a 1-0 series lead in the Long Island Collegiate Baseball League championship Thursday evening in a quite lopsided affair. The Lightning defeated the Long Island NorEasters 19-7.
The Lightning wasted no time putting a run on the board. After starter Patrick Quinn held the NorEaster’s scoreless in the top of the first, the Lightning took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning. After leadoff hitter Joe Piscitelli popped out to first, two hitter Kyle Heiss roped a single up the middle. The next batter, Andrew Florides hit a tailor-made double play ball which was bobbled by the shortstop, allowing him to get to first and Heiss to advance to second. Both of them advanced a base after the next batter John Condon hit an opposite field single to left field. With one out, Nick Vella brought Heiss home with a sacrifice fly giving the Lightning the 1-0 lead.
Lightning catcher Ryan Kuskowski after there 19-7 victory to take a 1-0 series lead for the LICBL championship. pic.twitter.com/yqk1KNyj3M
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 3, 2018
In the bottom of the second inning the Lightning struck for two more. After back to back strikeouts to start the inning, Tom Papadopoulas reached base on a throwing error by the second baseman, which proved to be costly. Immediately after, Piscitelli hit a triple into the left-center gap knocking Papadopoulas in. The next batter, Heiss brought in Piscitelli with a single, putting the Lightning up 3-0.
The next inning the NorEasters got one run back. With the bases loaded, Evan Sinclair got hit by a pitch to score William Guteknust and give the NorEasters their first run of the ball game.
The score remained 3-1 until the Lightning exploded in the bottom of the fourth. The inning began with an infield single by AJ Cain, then back to back bunt singles by Papadopoulas and Piscitelli respectively. With the bases loaded, Heiss hit a ground ball to the shortstop which went through his legs. The play scored Cain, but Papadopoulas was thrown out at the plate. Later in the inning, Jimmy Mendyk came up with the bases loaded and unloaded them with a triple, giving the Lightning an 8-1 lead.
With a score of 8-1, the NorEasters appeared to be out of the game, but in the top of the fifth they found some life. Chris Wasson and Guteknust lead off the inning with back to back singles and both of them ended up scoring. The inning consisted of four singles, two walks, and a hit by pitch, resulting in six runs, which brought the NorEasters deficit down to one run.
The bottom of the fifth, and top of the sixth both were scoreless, but the one run game would turn into a blowout in the bottom of the sixth. Eight of the Lightning’s nine starters reached base in the inning, six of them twice. They ended up scoring six runs in the inning which put them up 19-7 which ended up as the final score. Only one win away from securing the LICBL championship, Lightning catcher Ryan Kuskowski, who hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, talked about getting ready for game two. “We’re looking to carry this into next game,” the NYIT product said “We’ve been doing it all season and I think it’s our time to shine.” Game two of the series is set for August 4th.
