Coach Tom Pollatto on his teams performance in their victory over LIB Costello pic.twitter.com/ZrShMDdKQZ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 18, 2020
By Jared Valluzzi
The matchup between Dodger Nation and Long Island Baseball (Costello) was bound to be a good one featuring two teams hungry for a victory. It was the third game of the Brian Moore Memorial Tournament which honors Brian Moore, a beloved NYPD officer who lost his life on duty.
For each of these teams they were both looking to get their first win of the tournament. Despite both of these squads not being able to make the playoffs, each team came out firing right away.
In the top of the first, it was Dodger nation getting two guys on early but Mike Kalista who was on the hill for LIB (Costello) quickly struck out 2 batters and left the inning with no damage. Long Island Baseball would lead 1-0 after the first inning from an RBI double from Alex Peláez.
Mike Kalista continued his success on the mound in the second inning leaving Dodger Nation scoreless. But in the bottom of the 2nd it was Dodger Nation bringing in a new pitcher to the mound within Eddie McElroy. He held LIB (Costello) scoreless in the 2nd and when the third inning came Dodger Nation would get a spark offensively
In the top of the third it was Dodger Nation getting production from the bottom of the lineup. Johnnie Wells from the number 10 hole would hit a triple to get the bats going and would eventually be driven in later that inning to tie up the game at 1. After that it would be Eddie McElroy staying steady on the mound and keeping hitters off balance. He pitched the rest of the game once he stepped into the game in the 2nd inning and did very well. McElroy and his defense owned the 3rd and 4th inning as it seemed he always got ahead of his batters in the count and threw a deadly curveball that had hitters from Long Island Baseball guessing.
The offensive success for Dodger Nation continued with a big time RBI double from Mike Cardoza giving them a 2-1 lead and things would really start to open up for them in the 5th inning. Dodger Nation extended the lead to 4-1 after the whole lineup really started to produce. Coach Tom Pallatto really loved the overall effort offensively saying “the bottom of the lineup was great, we knew we weren’t going to the playoffs so we batted all 15 guys and the bottom of the lineup came through”.
Eddie McElroy continued his dominance on the mound but his fielders also gave him some great help. LIB (Costello) was putting the ball in play but Dodger Nation’s defense was on par having its best game of the tournament holding their opponent to just two runs in this one.
Long Island Baseball would make it interesting in the bottom of the 6th down 4-1 they loaded up the bases Hunter Brennas was able to bring one man home but they eventually would leave two guys stranded to end the inning. Dodger Nation would get an insurance run in the top of the 7th to extend the lead up to 5-2 but the bottom of the 7th LIB (Costello) would start to get something going.
Down by 3 in the bottom of the 7th, it was all about getting base runners and that’s what Long Island Baseball did, loading up the bases for a second straight inning. But Eddie McElroy and his defense held strong for the last two outs. It was his fielders getting out number two and McElroy striking out Frank Livorti seal the deal for the 5-2 win.
Dodger Nation’s pitching and defense really delivered as this was their best defensive performance of the tournament only giving up two runs. Dodger Nation finishes with the record of 1-1-1 and LIB Costello falls to 0-3 here at the Brian Moore Memorial Tournament
