by James Ryder
Field 3 at Plainedge Park Sunday morning saw the 10u East Meadow Mustangs meet up with the Islip Owls. Their game lasted through the top of the fifth inning before the game was called due to time limit. The Mustangs were able to break open a 4-4 tie early in the game and slowly expanded their lead over the Owls. They went onto win 12-4.
The Owls took their only lead of the game in the top of the first. Despite having their first two batters strike out, Islip went up 1-0 on a bullet off the bat of Frank Greco, which was lined into the left-center field gap resulting in an inside the park home run. In the bottom of the first, Islip’s starting pitcher struggled to throw strikes. Several wild pitches and a couple passed balls led to six walks and many stolen bases in the frame. The Mustangs scored four runs to go up 4-1.
Islip tied the game in the top of the second when East Meadow had some errors of their own. A dropped pop up to shortstop and a walk gave the Owls first and second with no outs. The next two batters struck out, but a ground ball hit to SS was overthrown to third, allowing the lead runner to score. A wild pitch and a passed ball brought home the remaining two base runners to tie the game at 4-4.
But the game didn’t remain tied for long. East Meadow led off with a walk from Evan Schattino and an infield single by Nick Benedetto. Schattino scored from second on a perfectly placed bunt by Vic Cassano III to take the lead back 5-4. The ball was thrown to first but was not in time for the out. The next few runs all come on more defensive mishaps. Another wild pitch scored a run. A throw by the pitcher trying to hold the runner on second allowed another player to score from third. A few pitches later, home plate was stolen on the throw back to the mound. Finally, the Mustangs scored their last run of the inning on Alex Klepner’s RBI single to put them up 9-4.
After a scoreless third inning and a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, where all three batters were struck out, East Meadow tacked on a few final runs in the bottom of the fourth. Benedetto led off with a walk and came home on D.J. Dowling’s 2-run inside the park HR. Then, PJ Campagnuolo walked and later scored on a throwing error.
While there were many mistakes made by both teams defensively, the Mustangs still managed to impress. Although some of their 12 runs were handed to them, many of their runs still came via quality at bats. Their plate discipline got them on the bases in many instances and led to fulfilled RBI opportunity’s. Final Score: East Meadow 12, Islip 4.
