by Chris Sacchi
Here’s the big hit for Centeno, in a dream-like scenario. pic.twitter.com/BANxU5fMsm
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 11, 2019
While baseball is a game of many situations, there may be one that tops them all in terms of intensity.
As a young baseball fan dreaming of the major leagues, a 3-2, 2 out, bases loaded opportunity with a chance to win in the ninth inning is a dream scenario.
In a matchup between the Riverhead Tomcats and the Sag Harbor Whalers in the Hamptons League In Sag Harbor, Riverhead’s Noah Centeno was in the exact spot, with his team trailing by one run.
Sag Harbor’s Nathan Moore delivered the fateful pitch, and Centeno delivered with a two RBI single to give his team a permanent 9-7 lead.
Despite the penultimate scenario, this game had many fascinating twists and turns.
Both starters entered the game struggling. Whalers left hander Aljo Sujack had given up more earned runs (18) than innings pitched (16) so far on the year. However, the University of New Orleans hurler turned things around in a big way.
Sujack stifled the Riverhead Tomcats with no hot baseball through 5.1 innings pitched. Armed with a 6-0 lead, too, things looked settled for the southpaw and his team. However, things would unravel quickly for both.
Bryce Willits singled in the top of the sixth with one out to break up the no-no. Louis Antos then singled on the next pitch. Jared Greene walked to lead the bases, which preceded an incredible four straight RBI singles: Andrew Hernandez, Bryce Wallace, Brian Morrell, and Centeno, in that order. All of the sudden, the Sag Harbor lead evaporated into a 6-6 tie after six and a half.
Sujack had entered the sixth with no hit baseball, and exited in the middle of the inning. Scott Rothschild, the son of Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild, kept the game tied by escaping trouble.
Sag Harbor built their six runs throughout the those first six innings off Tomcats starter Gabriel Romano, who also entered struggling with a 6.75 ERA entering play.
In the bottom of the first, Johnny Lopez led off with a single, and Lucas Stalman followed with a walk. Both came around to score on a River Town double. Town usually bats first or second for Sag Harbor, but capitalized on a more middle-of-the order, run scoring spot in the order.
Stalman scored Peter Giabetti with a sac fly on the second. In the third, Matt Donlan’s RBI single scored Brendan Dowd, who singled and stole second. Town once again delivered in a run-scoring opportunity, with a 3-1 RBI grounder to score Lopez again in the third.
Now facing a sudden 6-6 tie entering the bottom of the seventh, Sag Harbor fought back to score another. Stalman led off with a double, and “small ball” allowed him to score: Town moved him to third on a grounder to the right side, and Ramon Jimenez scored Stalman on a sacrifice fly, and the Whalers regained the lead, 7-6.
Sag Harbor held the lead to open the top of the ninth, as lefty Cory Hitlz, who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, opened the inning but was quickly replaced by the aforementioned Natan Moore after a leadoff walk to Bryce Willits.
Moore then allowed a ground rule double to Louis Antos that hooped over the wall in left field. Matt Woods, an offensive force for Sag Harbor, is a usual infielder who was playing left field, was inches from catching the ball.
Now facing second and third with no outs, Moore struck out Jared Greene for a big first out. Andrew Hernandez was subsequently intentionally walked to load the bases to face Bryce Wallace.
Moore and the Whalers now had the force at any base, but because the corners were in, Wallace singled to tie it up.
The next batter was Noah Centeno, in only his second at-bat of the day after coming in to pinch hit.
In the biggest possible baseball spot, mentioned at the opening of this article, Centeno owned it, and allowed Riverhead to hand the ball of to dominant closer Joshua Becker.
In 11 games and 18 innings, Becker racked up 22 strikeouts, and most importantly, no earned runs.
After a 1-2-3 ninth, Becker improved those first two numbers to 12 and 19, notching his sixth save and giving Riverhead a victory in which they were no hit through more than 5 innings and did not lead until Centeno came through in that penultimate baseball moment that every young ball player dreams about.
