Walk-off 2-R HR by Tennessee-commit Jake Griffin sends Body Armor Titans United 15U to the finals pic.twitter.com/VVJf1FwxRz
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 17, 2020
Big time players step up in big moments and that’s exactly what Tennessee-commit Jake Griffin did in extra innings to send Body Armor Titans United 15U into the finals against B1000 Seminoles.
It was a wild back-and-forth game with plenty of twists but ultimately the Titans’ No. 2 hitter and ace pitcher took matters into his own hands. Kyle Popko led off the top of the eighth inning with an infield single to third and moved into scoring position when winning pitcher Nick DiMartino sacrificed him into scoring position with a great bunt. Griffin, who entered the at bat 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, made amends with the no-doubter to win it 6-4.
The starting pitchers in this game, Sean Hamilton for Team Steel and Brendan Thomas for Titans United were both impressive in the early going but Hamilton’s command eluded him in the second inning when he walked Graedon Finarelli, hit Johnny Robles and walked Joe Lynn but he was able to escape any damage with a strikeout of Kyle Popko.
Although he did not allow a run, it did drive his pitch count up and he continued with the erratic command in the bottom of the third as he allowed a leadoff single to right field by Nick DiMartino and walked Jake Griffin, Mike O’Shaugnessy and Shaun McMillan to allow the first run to come in. He almost got out of it allowing just one run, but Johnny Robles smoked a two-run double to right field to extend the lead to 3-0. He struck out the next batter to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Team Steel got on the board. Joey Marchese led things off with a double to left field and he came around to score on an RBI single by Ryan Smith. After a walk to Joe Hackal and Kyle Salvati, the game was now 3-2. That was it for Brendan Thomas, who gave way to Nick DiMartino. He did his job by inducing a 5-2-3 DP to end the inning and keep the score in tact.
Kyle Salvati did a great job in relief to keep the opposition at bay and allow his team a chance to come back – which is exactly what they did in the next inning. A leadoff walk to Max Marte, who then stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. Joey Marchese tied the game up with an RBI single to center. With two outs, Gio Cassino hit a fly ball to left field that appeared relatively routine but the ball was dropped and it allowed Marchese to score and give Team Steel the 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, O’Shaugnessy led off with a great at bat and singled to second base. Shaun McMillan doubled just inside the third base line to put the tying run 90 feet away. Graedon Finarelli ripped an RBI single to left to tie the game up once again. With nobody out still, it appeared they would win the game right there but the next three batters were retired to send the game into extras.
Team Steel went down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth which set the stage for the fireworks in the bottom of the inning.
Following the game, Titans United advanced to face B1000 Seminoles in the finals, but they were defeated by the score of 1-0.
