Andres Auffant is our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game he allowed just two hits with nine strikeouts over five shutout innings and also had 3 hits at the plate including a 3-R home run for Center Moriches pic.twitter.com/6AhOdQU8rE
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 16, 2019
When you are supremely talented, sometimes it can be difficult to avoid complacency. Center Moriches, the reigning New York State Class B champs, has not succumbed to that. They cruised past Babylon, 20-0, behind Andres Auffant‘s incredible day.
The Franklin Pierce-commit fired five shutout innings, allowing just two hits, both singles, while striking out nine batters. He also was a menace at the dish. He had three hits, including a three-run HR in the second and a two-run single in the third which opened up a 15-0 lead.
“Definitely the pitching,” he said in regards to what he takes more pride in, although he did note that “it’s always nice to hit home runs.”
He was far from the only contributor on this day for the Red Devils, who have treated each game this season like a glorified home run derby.
They scored nine runs in the first inning. Cory Stengel got things going with a well-struck single to center. Matt Alifano moved him to third on a ground-rule double and Alec Maag loaded the bases with a walk. Brad Sakellarides smoked a two-run double to score Stengel and Alifano. David Falco drew a walk to load the bases to bring up Marist-commit Robert Copozzi who broke the game open with a grand slam to make it 6-0. After a strikeout, Auffant started things back up with a single, scored on Stengel’s double to left-center field, Alifano drew a walk to bring up Maag who delivered a two-run double to deep left to make it 9-0.
Babylon had a tough task in chipping away against a Division-II arm like Auffant who was sharp as can be. The only base runner he allowed in the first was on a single by Antonio Tufano, who stole second base.
There was plenty of action in the second inning as well.
After a lead off walk to Falco, he advanced on a single by freshman Leyton Pulsipher and they both scored on Auffant’s dinger to center field. Stengel walked, which was his third time reaching base in two innings, as did Alifano but the side was retired on a fly out to left.
The Red Devils continued the scoring party in the third inning.
A walk and an error brought up Copozzi, who delivered an RBI single and Auffant scored two runs on a single of his own. A double play brought a semblance of order to the inning, but after another single by Stengel and a double by Alifano, Maag smoked a two-run triple to left field that certainly would’ve been a home run had there been a fence there. That made it 18-0 in the third.
The starters came out after that with the exception of Sakellarides, who delivered a ground-rule double to the same spot in left field that Maag’s triple landed, which could’ve been the fourth home run of the game.
With the victory, Center Moriches improves to 8-0 on the season, while Babylon falls to 6-4. It is hard to imagine the Red Devils being challenged in a game prior to the Long Island Championship. That’s something that the 15 seniors take seriously as they try to remain focused through out the season.
“I think we know that at the end of the year it’s not going to be this way,” said Maag, one of the key cogs in their state championship winning team last year. “We have a goal that we are working for and last year really set the tone for us and we want to go back up and do what we did last year because it was so special. That’s what we’re working for. We know there’s some inferior competition, we just have to play our game so that we are ready when the time comes,” he added.
