by Jared Valluzzi
Coach Ken Noe on his teams big time victory pic.twitter.com/Ky6h2D3A4a
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 20, 2020
The 11U Body Armor Titans have been one of the best teams this summer on Long Island and it showed when they went into action against the South Shore Chiefs on Wednesday night. The Chiefs, who are another team that’s been solid, went into the game knowing they had to score going against a tough Titans team. They were held to two runs the first time they met the Titans but played a very tough game against them.
It was the high-powered Titans lineup up to bat in the top of the first inning. Andrew Noe the speedy lead off guy got on base via walk but would then steal second right away. Noe would eventually move over to third base on a ground out bringing up Bobby Wescott to the plate. Westcott grounded out as well but Noe would cross home plate giving the Titans an early 1-0 lead. Anthony Dinello would get out of the inning for the Chiefs with just one run allowed.
The Chiefs went up to bat in the bottom of the first inning all fired up. They were facing the hard throwing Derek Yormack. It was Sal Apap from the number two hole getting on base from a walk. Which would set up one of the Chiefs top hitters in Anthony Dinello to the plate with one man on. Dinello would make the most out of it. He hit a big time double driving Apap home and knotting up the game at 1. With two outs in the inning came up Johnny Neary and “Johnny Kid” delivered big time. His single brings in the runner from second and gives the Chiefs a 2-1 lead after the first inning.
Anthony Dinello knew he’d have a tough task with the Body Armor lineup but he held strong in the second inning. Allowing one guy to walk Dinello and his defense recorded the 3 outs with ease. Derek Yormack went back to work on the mound for the Titans and after letting up two runs to start the game he got in his groove. It was a quick 3 up 3 down in the bottom of the second inning.
The top of third inning was really where the Titans showed they were one of Long Island’s top offenses. A new pitcher came into the game and the Titans bats really came alive. Part of it had to do with a few errors by the Chiefs defense like miscommunication on a pop fly off the bat of Shapiro which would tie up the game at 2. Things really got going after Bobby Wescott hit a complete bomb to the fence which drove in Shapiro giving the Titans a 3-2 lead. After that, the slugfest continued throughout the lineup. It was all about getting hard hit balls in play and aggressive base running. A couple misfired throws to first base certainly helped this offensive explosion. When the top of third came to an end the Titans were looking at a 7-2 lead. A six-run explosion in the inning with help from tons of guys in the lineup.
After the Titans offense exploded it was back to work for Yormack who continued to do his thing throwing some hard fastballs in good locations. Not only was Yormack getting it done on the mound, the Titans defense played very solid. Played very smoothly and got the outs they needed to get.
In the top of the fourth the Titans offense got silenced as the Chiefs defense got it together that inning. It was a new pitcher for the Titans though as Ryan Yormack took the mound and just like Derek the past two innings, he was working well. He also put the Chiefs offense to the test with some great pitching and of course the defense stayed locked down in the field. In the next inning it was back to work for the Titans offense and the top of the lineup for this squad definitely showed they could swing the bats and swing them well. Charlie Shapiro hit a shot of an RBI double followed by Ryan Yormack hitting a bomb as well. The Titans extended the lead all the way to 10-2.
In the bottom half of the inning the Titans pitching and defense stayed at the same level it’s been at ever since the first inning and was amazing in this victory and the year as a whole. Coach Ken Noe of the Titans said “We spend just as much time on defense as we do on offense, I try to tell them we have to play both sides of the baseball so defense and pitching wins games and we’re gonna out slug 95 precent of the teams we play against so if the pitching and defense are there, there’s a reason we’ve won 33 of 36 games this summer it’s because the pitching and defense is there”. The Titans have shown it on both sides of the baseball all year and come away with a big victory. ‘
The 11U Body Armor Titans now advance to 9-1-1 in league play and continue to assert its dominance this summer. The South Shore Chiefs now fall to 5-7 in league play.
