Final: LI Storm 1, ECL Jacks 0
WP: John Dezago (1-hit, 10-K shutout) pic.twitter.com/dVRDHTtQIG— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 17, 2020
The northeast is notorious for great pitching and cold weather and that was on display on a brisk Saturday, October afternoon. Uncommitted RHP John Dezago was outstanding all day, firing a 10-strikeout, one-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory for the LI Storm over the East Coast Lumberjacks in the 18U Northeast Elite.
The lone hit that the Xaverian senior allowed was on a leadoff double in the fourth inning by Damian Amancio but he was erased as he tried to stretch it into a triple. It was an ill-advised decision to start the inning, but it did require a near perfect relay which is exactly what the Storm was able to execute. The only other threat was basically in the seventh inning when Dezago worked around a one-out walk and a two-out error by his shortstop to retire the final batter on a strikeout – which was his 10th of the day.
Following the game, Dezago was unsure if it was a no-hitter or one-hitter but after clarifying that, he stated that his “fastball felt good and it was easy to place it from side-to-side” and “my team backed me up a lot,” he added. The defense helped him most notably in the top of the sixth when Xavier Webb hit what appeared to be a clean single into center field but it was snatched out of the air by the second baseman, Joey Frazzetta. It was a critical play as the leadoff batter could’ve easily came around to score later in the inning. Rather, he struck out the next two batters to put himself in a position to finish what he started and that’s precisely what he did. To be fair, the Lumberjacks team is consisted entirely of 2023 players so there was a two year age difference, but he executed regardless.
As for the Storm’s offense, they weren’t able to muster much to help their ace. They were going up against 6’4 RHP Max Reichenbach. He is the son of Mount Sinai head coach Eric Reichenbach, who pitched four seasons in the Mets’ minor league system following an outstanding high school career at Sachem in which he won the Suffolk County Championship in 1987 and was drafted in 1988. (His story was quite legendary, actually as he threw a no-hitter against East Islip on less than 24 hour rest to capture the title.) The 2023 grad is a high follow, as he is already sitting 78-79 MPH and is just 15-years-old. His ceiling is very high and he displayed that today.
The only blemish on the afternoon for Reichenbach was in the bottom of the third inning. After the first two batters were retired, he walked Dylan Wayne with two outs. A single by Vinny Famighetti moved the runner into scoring position. Third-place hitter P.J. Tobin ripped a clean single into center to score Wayne to break the scoreless tie. He retired the next batter to limit the damage.
He finished with five innings pitched, and gave way to Will Darrell. The southpaw fired a 1-2-3 inning to allow his team a chance to come back, but Dezago was not interested in that. He shut the door to finish off the 1-0 victory.
The tournament is highly anticipated each year as Sal Agostinelli puts it all together each year since 2008. The tournament is in memory of his late mother, Antonia, and is attended by several college coaches and pro scouts.
The championship will be tomorrow at 6:00pm at Baseball Heaven.
