by Ethan Marshall
Sharks starting pitcher Nathan Hall on his performance and the team’s victory. pic.twitter.com/f3DcG49ezh
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 26, 2020
The South Shore Sharks defeated the Long Island Storm with the run-rule by the score of 11-1 in four innings of a 12U game. Sharks pitcher Nathan Hall threw a complete game, allowing just one run on one hit, hitting one batter, walking two and striking out six. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate with two RBI.
According to Hall, he felt very comfortable on the mound during the game. “I felt like I [pitched] better because I took my time and took a few deep breaths,” Hall said. He also credited the defense behind him for making his job easier throughout the afternoon. The Sharks defense made no errors. In fact, shortstop Liam Young made an outstanding defensive play to end the top of the second, running to his right and fielding a sharp ground ball before throwing across his body in time to record the out.
The lone hit Hall allowed came from the first batter of the game, when Matt Tomossione smacked a single to right field. Hall then proceeded to strike out the next two batters before inducing a pop out to end the inning.
The Sharks’ offense was rolling from the start. Their first six batters recorded hits: a leadoff double by Andrew McCartney, a single by Joe Lordi, a two-run double from Hall, a RBI single by Young, a single by Jagger Sgro and a RBI single by Dylan Briody. Joe Olshwilz’s RBI ground out marked the first out of the inning, but the fifth run of the first inning.
After a scoreless second inning on both sides, the Storm were able to scratch out a run thanks to a one-out walk by Paul Esposito. He then stole second and took third on a wild pitch before Phillip Terranova brought him home with a RBI ground out, cutting the deficit to 5-1. However, the Sharks responded with a one-out rally of their own in the bottom of the inning. Young doubled and stole third. Sgro, the catcher, was then hit by a pitch before being pinch-ran for by Hall, who proceeded to steal second. Young scored on a wild pitch before Briody smacked a RBI double, extending their lead to 7-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, McCartney hit his second double of the game with one out and scored on Lordi’s RBI single. After a walk by Hall, Young hit his second RBI single of the day, making it 9-1 Sharks.
After Sgro walked to load the bases, the game came to an end on a bizarre play. Briody hit an infield pop-up, but the umpires didn’t call the batter out on the infield fly rule. The ball ended up landing in the middle of the infield, with each runner successfully advancing. Young, the runner on third, noticed the ball still rolling around the infield and broke for home. He ended up just beating the throw to the plate, resulting in the mercy rule being implemented.
While the Storm coaching staff were a bit upset at the non-call, it’s worth mentioning that the same result might’ve occurred. Had the ball still landed and the runners attempted to advance of their own volition, both runners would’ve scored if everything else repeated itself. However, it’s possible the Storm infield would’ve acted differently had the infield fly rule been called by the umpire. While the rule is meant to prevent multiple easy outs from being recorded, the non-call ended up benefitting the Sharks offense in a different way.
