by James Ryder
Final: Warriors win 7-6. Ducks had a nice two out rally in the bottom of the sixth, but this ground out ended the game: pic.twitter.com/DDF86eDdt1
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 8, 2020
Field 1 at Plainedge Park Saturday morning saw a double header between the 9u Long Island Junior Ducks and the Merrick Bellmore Warriors. After a blowout 24-6 win in game one for the Ducks, they trailed by four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. They had a two-out rally, but fell just short, giving the Warriors a 7-6 redemption victory.
Both teams had their share of errors in this game, resulting in 5 of the combined 13 runs being unearned. No runs were scored in the first three innings for either team. LI starting pitcher Mike Fredricks got into some quick trouble in the top of the first, loading up the bases after striking out and forcing a ground out to the Warriors leadoff batters. However, he got out of the jam with a second strikeout.
Merrick Bellmore’s (MB) SP Bennett Shasta threw 1-2-3 innings in the bottom of the first and second. He stuck out four batters in that span. He then put the Ducks away in the third inning after giving up a single and a walk. The highlight of the first half was LI’s Derek Kolman diving catch in shallow center field in the top of the third.
Kolman then replaced Fredricks on the mound to start the top of the fourth. He struggled, giving up a leadoff single, followed by a walk. This was immediately followed by Quillan Florio’s RBI single to CF to give the Warriors their first lead, 1-0. Another single loaded the bases, but Kolman buckled down, recording three straight outs with a strikeout, comeback ground ball, and another K.
This sparked a back and forth affair in which both teams would score runs for each the remaining three innings. The Warriors gave up their lead in the bottom of the fourth based on two errors; a few wild infield throws leading to a dead ball in the dugout and a wild pitch with a runner on third allowed LI to plate two and take a 2-1 lead.
The Warriors made up for their transgressions though in the fifth. Bennet Norful leadoff the inning and was hit by the pitch. He advanced to second and third on two straight ground outs and scored on a swinging bunt by Ben Stamoulis. The throw should have went to home and an out there would have ended the inning. Instead, Stamoulis beat out the throw to first, so the Warriors tied it up 2-2. They then walked in three straight at-bats, the last of which came with the bases loaded putting them back up 3-2.
As a result, Niko Santonino took the mound for LI. He forced a ground ball, but an error by the second baseman allowed MB to score their fourth run, the final run of the inning, MB also made a pitching change in the fifth. After recording 2 outs and then allowing a walk, Shasta came out and Gio Balestriere came in. Shasta finished the game with only 1 earned run in 4 2/3. A ground ball to third was thrown wide of first base, giving the Ducks their third run. The inning would end right after on a lineout, with the Ducks still trailing 4-3.
The Warriors would go on to provide much needed cushion in the top of the sixth. They scored three runs. The first came on an RBI single from Joseph Lentini. MB then scored two runs on an odd sequence. A wild pitch allowed one run to score, and on the throw back to the pitcher, Lentini broke for home and was safe, giving them a 7-3 lead.
The game came down to the bottom of the sixth. As mentioned, the Ducks nearly pulled off a two out rally to tie the game. After back to back strikeouts from Balestriere, Santonino hit a double to CF and Kolman hit a single to right. Andrew Erato’s walk loaded the bases. MB responded by throwing in Vin Trotta, who, after giving up three straight runs on a walk, an RBI single, and a wild pitch, ended the game by fielding a ground ball and throwing out the runner at home.
Despite a late push by the Junior Ducks, the Warriors held on to win the second game of the double header. Final Score: MB 7, LI 6.
