Axcess MVP of the game George Hance discusses his start on the mound. He allowed 2 runs 1 earned in 4 innings and struck out 8 batters. He also hit an inside the park home run in the game. pic.twitter.com/tzn8YG0iYy
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 1, 2018
As the summer comes to a close, it was a beautiful day for baseball at Plainedge Park.
The LI Thunder and LI Junior Ducks faced off in a 12u East Coast Labor Day Bash Tournament matchup looking to claim victory on this beautiful day.
George Hance toed the rubber for the Thunder in the top of the 1st looking to set the tone for the game for his team. Hance struck the first two batters of the game out, and then after an error and a walk he got the final out with a groundball to first.
Mike Lazaridis was hoping to set a similar tone for the Junior Ducks in the bottom of the 1st, but was unable to get off to as smooth of a start. He walked the leadoff batter, Brian Sanchez, and after Sanchez moved to third on two wild pitches, he came home to score on a dropped 3rd strikeout where the runner was a safe at first. That runner, Michael Jazylo, would come home to score on an RBI groundout by Hance.
Hance stepped back on the mound in the top of the 2nd looking to build off of his 1st inning. After allowing a leadoff single, he bounced back with a strikeout swinging and a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd the Thunder tacked on tqo more runs to double their lead to 4-0. The Thunder capitalized on 2 errors by the Junior Ducks, eventually cashing in with RBI singles by Ryan Anderson & James Kass.
Hance continued to roll in the 3rd, working a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts.
Tony Gagliardo entered in relief of Lazaridis in the bottom of the 3rd. With nobody on and 1 out he walked Hance, who would go on to steal 2nd, and then score on a errant throw by the catcher when attempting to steal 3rd. Anthony Dichiara would then triple with nobody on and 1 out but didn’t come in to score. Thunder led 5-0 entering the 4th.
After a leadoff walk followed by a dropped line drive in left field, TJ Coyne put the Junior Ducks on the board with a big 1 out 2 RBI double. Hance quickly responded with consecutive strikeouts to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 4th, the Thunder would immediately regain their 5 run lead, bringing 2 runs home in the inning thanks to an RBI groundout by Kass, and clutch 2 out RBI single by Sanchez. CJ Forman relieved Gagliardi with runners on the corners and 2 outs and got Jazylo to line out to right field.
Sanchez came in relief for Hance in the top of the 5th. He walked 1 batter and hit 1 batter in his first relief inning of work, but allowed no runs.
Continuing his monster performance, Hance led off the bottom of the 5th with an inside the park homerun on a smash into the right centerfield gap.
Sanchez finished the job in the top of the 6th, getting Forman to ground out to him with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs to seal the 8-2 victory.
After the game I caught up with Axcess Game MVP George Hance, who pitched 4 innings allowing 2 runs 1(earned) and striking out 8 batters, while also going 1-2 at the plate with 2 runs scored, 2 RBI’s, and an inside-the-park home run.
Hance remarked about his stellar performance, “I was pretty confident coming into the game. After 2 innings not allowing any runs my confidence continued to grow. The team hit really well, I think I pitched very well, overall it was a good game and we worked really well together.”
