by James Ryder
Final: 19-4 Titans. Here is Alejandro Gonzalez with thoughts on the teams win (Interview sponsored by Muddy Locker Sports): pic.twitter.com/NXSjhefcwM
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 14, 2019
The 11u Long Island Titans and the Batting 1.000 Seminoles squared off Saturday morning at Plainedge Park. The Titans went up early and the lead would swell in the top of third inning. The game only lasted until the end of the following frame as the game ended due to time limit. The Titans won in dominating fashion, 19-4.
The Seminoles bats and the pitching simply struggled to compete in this one. In contrast, the Titans had great plate discipline, several big hits, and stellar pitching from starter Jake King. King went two innings with only two walks and a single given up. He also struck out two batters.
LI went to work at the plate fast as lead off hitters Mike Buckley and Thomas Rocco drew back to back walks. After stealing third, Buckley scored on a dropped pop up to center field of the bat of Eric Hendrickson. A few batters later, Rocco went home on and RBI single to right field by Simon Blissett. Emlyn Thomas followed this up with a sharp line drive hit perfectly in the left-center field gap for a 3-run inside the park homerun. This gave the Titans a 5-0 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, the Titans put the game entirely out of reach. They went on to take a commanding 19-0 lead by batting around the order in the top of the third. Despite bringing three pitchers to the mound, Batting 1.000 couldn’t keep LI off the bases. After Alejandro Gonzalez reached first on another drop in CF and King drew his second walk, Blissett hit the ball again for the teams second 3-run inside the park HR to go up 8-0. Eight of the next nine batters all walked, allowing the lead to balloon to 13-0. King’s swinging bunt should have prompted the second out, but instead another run crossed the plate. There was miscommunication between the pitcher and catcher on who should grab the dribbler. This brought Blissett up to bat with the bases loaded. He smoked one opposite field down the first base line for another inside the park HR, this one a grand slam. Finally, the Titans ended their onslaught with one last inside the park HR from Marco Palleschi.
Palleschi relieved King for the final inning. The Seminoles found success in the bottom of the fourth, but it was too little too late. Their only four runs of the game came on Fin Galligan’s swinging bunt RBI infield single, an error at shortstop, and a 2 RBI single by Alex Demas, respectively. The LI took major advantage of Batting 1.000’s pitching woes and never gave them the chance to make this game competitive. Final Score: Titans 19, Seminoles 4.
