Cam Leary rips an RBI double down the right field line to score Ryan Micheli and HDMH takes a 1-0 lead in the third pic.twitter.com/QmafFZ0Z4Y
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 7, 2020
It appeared to be a slog of an ending to a double header split on a dreary day in Holtsville, NY but after three consecutive walks and one bolt of lightning off the bat of Boston College-commit Cameron Leary, the game was all tied up at 6-6 – which ultimately was the final score after the game reached the time limit.
HDMH was trailing 6-2 in the top of the sixth in a game that they hadn’t mustered much offense, but their patience paid off against Lou Puccio, who walked Matt Alifano to start the inning as well as Nick Harvey and Rob Copozzi to set the stage for the dynamic outfielder. He crushed one over the right center field fence to tie the game up after it appeared destined for a DH split.
They threatened to score more, as they loaded up the bases with nobody out after three more walks but John Flannigan came on in relief from left field to strike out the next two batters and coax an inning ending ground out to Vanderbilt OF Matt Hogan.
The Thunder had an opportunity to win in the bottom of the sixth, but Will Kennedy came on and worked around a leadoff walk to throw up a zero and end in a tie.
Earlier in the game, it was all Thunder.
They jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Kendon Stratchan led off with a single to center and two walks against Roman Dorosh loaded the bases. It set the stage for red-hot Charlie Eisele, who lined one over second base for a two-run single. They added a third run on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jamal Ritter.
In the top of the third inning, HDMH woke up. After three straight walks to open the frame, Hogan ripped a two-run single through the right side to score Matt Brown-Eiring and Alex Ungar. Reliever Jay Schlaefer came on and put out the fire by retiring the next two batters.
The Thunder actually responded once again with an RBI double by Stratchan and added another on an error off the bat of Hamilton to make it 5-2 – which they later extended to 6-2 on an RBI ground out.
Dorosh came out of the gate incredibly sharp, striking out the side in the first inning before losing his command in the second inning and eventually hitting his pitch limit for the day.
Schlaefer was very impressive and was in line for the victory for HDMH mounted the rally in the sixth inning.
Game 1
The first game of the double header was all HDMH. Molloy LHP A.J. Verga got the start and was effective over two shutout innings. He came out in favor of Binghamton-commit Justin Rosner, who fired a 1-2-3 third inning.
They opened up the scoring in the bottom of the third when Ryan Micheli stroked a one-out single to left and scored on Leary’s RBI double to right field. He showed why he’s one of the top bats in the class today.
Rosner worked around two walks and a single in the fourth inning and fired another scoreless inning in the fourth inning.
HDMH extended their lead in the home half of the sixth with a RBI singles by Nick Ungar and Matt Brown Eiring.
Things definitely got a little dicey in the seventh, though, against Binghamton RHP Doug Goodwin. He allowed a leadoff single to Charlie Eisele and another error moved the runner to scoring position.After an infield pop out and a ground out, John Flannigan blooped a two-run single to cut the deficit to 3-2 and advanced to second on the throw. With the tying run in scoring position, Goodwin did what he usually does and that’s bear down. He struck out the final batter to secure the victory and the save.
HDMH will be back in action on Saturday against the LI Sound, while the Thunder will face Titans-Blue in Blue Chip Collegiate League action.
