by Lou Accumanno
After winning their bracket in a tournament from Georgia, the LI Body Armor Titans got back into the swing of things on Long Island as they took down the LI Junior Ducks 13-3.
“We know we have a lot of talented kids on this team. We use these games to prepare ourselves for big tournaments. We find our strengths and our weaknesses and look to improve on them every game,” Assistant Coach of the Titans, Ralph Dalton said.
The Titans showed how talented they were as they jumped to a quick 2-0 lead to open the game as Sean Lowe and Mike Freda scored off a sacrifice fly ball from Coltrane Calloway.
Dylan Bruno started on the mound for the Titans and was throwing heat right off the mound striking out the first three batters.
Bruno couldn’t keep that spark for long going into the bottom of the second as he walked his first three batters and got himself into a jam. He finally got himself out of the slump, but it wasn’t until after Ryan Killcarr of the Ducks singled to send John Valinoti home to cut the lead 2-1.
At the top of the third the Titans scored two more runs from Luke Orbon’s triple as he sent home Nick Roselli and Josh Graham putting the Titans up 4-1.
Bruno was relieved on the mound and was replaced by Anthony Quatromoni. He found himself into a good rhythm striking out the side going into the top of the fourth.
“Our hitting is the best part about this team and when we get hot, we can’t be stopped,” Dalton said as the Titans opened the fourth with a barrage of hits that ended up giving them a 9-1 lead.
Quatromoni showed that he can throw and hit as he singled to start the inning. Bruno followed with a triple that sent Quatromoni home. Teddy Nouhla sent Bruno home off a single while Anselmo Joya smacked a double which advanced Nouhla to third. Orbon came back up to the plate and tripled again, sending both runners to score. Orbon then stole for home and scored from a wild pitch by Ducks John Valinuti.
The Ducks fought back in the fifth and scored two runs from Joseph Infante’s double pushing the score 9-3, but the deficit was too much to overcome as they didn’t score again in the game. “Our pitching is our defense. We look to keep everything tight on defense and just let the game play out,” Dalton said.
The Titans went on to score another four runs in the sixth jumping to the 13-3 lead winning the game.
Josh Graham helped secure the victory for the LI Body Armour Titans over the LI Junior Ducks 13-3. He carried his team by recording 6 steals in the game and went 2-3 at the plate with an RBI. He is your Axcess Baseball Player of the Game. pic.twitter.com/qdRaqY67iC
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 19, 2019
“We look to improve everyday with these guys whether it is base running, fielding, or even hitting. We want to be more consistent with the way we play so we can translate that into more victories like these,” Dalton said as the team sits at first place with a 9-2 record in the 16U National Division in the LI Boys of Summer League.
