by James Ryder
Here is Marcus Duncan on his relief outing success: pic.twitter.com/pwI1u58lka
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 7, 2019
The 12u East Meadow Mustangs matched up against Long Island Baseball Saturday afternoon at Mitchell Park. The game was extremely competitive for the first couple of innings as each team stayed fought until the bottom of the third. It was here that LIB gained their first lead of the game and went on to win, 14-7, thanks to a ton of firepower in the batter’s box.
However, it was the Mustangs who got this high scoring outing started in the top of the first. After a leadoff single from Augustyn and back-to-back walks from Dominguez and Smith, Lanza brought them all home on an inside-the-park grand slam. This 4-0 lead was short lived though as LIB put together four runs of their own in the bottom half. The clean-up hitter Schultz brought in their first run on an RBI groundout to shortstop. Langer followed him with an RBI of his own on a single to center field. Two batters later, Schultz and Langer came home on a 2 run double by Marcus Duncan to tie the game at 4-4.
A couple of walks and an infield single to start the second inning allowed East Meadow to go back up. Dominguez reached base again, this time with a double to bring home 2 runs. In the next frame, LIB tied it up again at 6-6. Sudol hit a leadoff inside the park homerun that he laced into right-center field. The ball was dropped by the cutoff man, allowing Dominguez to come all the way home on what probably should have been only a triple. Another RBI groundout came at bats later off of Collins’ swing to tie it.
After a throwing error in the top of the third gave the Mustangs a 7-6 lead, LIB finally took the lead in the bottom of the third and scored several runs in the process. They ended up doubling their opponents runs scored by the time the last out was recorded. The game was tied on an error, but a 2 RBI double from Forthofer was the difference maker. With a 9-7 lead, LIB piled on the runs. Strauss’ RBI groundout, Collins’ 2 RBI single, and one final error led to LIB’s 14-7 lead.
With the time limit approaching, LIB quickly put away the Mustangs in the top of the fourth to win in. Duncan, who had pitched every inning in relief since the second inning, finished his day by facing only four batters in the last frame. He finished with only 3 runs given up and 2 strikeouts to go along with several forced ground balls. Final Score: LIB 14, East Meadow 7.
