Here’s the walk-off by Nick Roselli in the bottom of the 9th for the 1-0 victory. One of the best games you’ll see pic.twitter.com/UUivIBcKTd
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 19, 2020
Ho-ly smokes. What a game!
The Long Island Titans-Quattrini outlasted Junior Ducks-Caputo in a classic victory, 1-0, in 9 innings to capture the 18U Northeast Elite tournament at Baseball Heaven. The game featured two brilliant arms, RHP Tommy Ventimiglia (Longwood 2021) and Brendan Williams (West Hempstead 2021) at their absolute best and not giving an inch. The game had the feel of a fall classic with each team’s ace leaving everything on the mound and it was truly inspiring to watch.
Ventimiglia wound up striking out a career-high 17 batters over 9 innings, while Williams “only” struck out 15 over 7 innings, before giving way to Matt Hynes (Farmingdale 2021). It was the rare game where all fans in attendance were absolutely locked in to every pitch and the numerous scouts and college coaches were jotting down notes and video taping.
Ultimately, it was the Titans who came out on top with the 1-0 victory in 9 innings. The winning run scored on an RBI single by Sacred Heart-commit Nick Roselli (Division 2021) with the bases loaded. Had it not been the last inning, it probably would’ve been a bases-clearing triple but it officially goes down as a single, just as the infamous “Grand Slam Single” by Robin Ventura which occurred almost 21 years to the day!
Following the game, Roselli noted that he had no doubt that he was going to record the winning hit. He took it as an insult that the Ducks were willing to walk Matt DeStefano (Clarke 2021) to load the bases to face him. In actuality, it was a sound baseball decision to make a force at any base and go for the left-on-left match up. Hynes had been effective in his two innings, but painted himself into a mess after throwing away a sacrifice bunt attempt which would’ve been the first out of the inning. Instead it made for a 2nd & 3rd, 0 out scenario in which it was a no-brainer to load the bases – regardless of who was batting. The Titans lineup, which is loaded with Division-I talent, had not mustered much offense on the day. Brendan Williams was dynamite. I received numerous texts from college coaching how in the world this type of arm was uncommitted so I don’t anticipate him being on the market for long. Actually, the scouts loved him too so I wouldn’t be shocked if professional baseball is also in his future. Williams allowed just a leadoff single by Maryland-commit Sean Lane (St. Dominic 2021) in the fifth inning and retired the next three batters to avoid any damage.
“This is the type of stuff you dream of,” said Ventimiglia following the game. He said there was no consideration of him coming out of the game – even as the game went into extras, although he did note that Fordham-commit Jacob Steinmetz was available and ready out of the bullpen if needed. The only threat that he faced was in the 7th inning when he allowed back-to-back hits by Adelphi-commit John Rizzo (East 2021) and Dickinson-commit Ryan Thompson (East Islip 2021). With a lesser pitcher on the mound, you probably go to the bullpen but he’s one of the best arms in the northeast and can handle precarious situations. After Tony Gelabert flew out deep to right field to advance the runners, Ventimiglia needed to make some pitcher. With the middle-of-the-order still up, he was able to bear down and strike out Preston Gerena (Longwood 2022) and Connor Ruland (Islip 2021). He let out a primal yell – something you rarely see from the composed righty, but this was a special moment.
In the bottom of the 7th, the Titans were looking to walk it off but Williams was not interested in that. He went 1-2-3 with two more strikeouts to finish his evening with 15 strikeouts.
Ventimiglia went back out for the eighth – which was a bit surprising but he was back in cruise control. He struck out the final two batters for strikeout numbers 15 and 16 to get his team back in the dugout. The Titans threatened to walk off in the 8th against Hynes. The leadoff batter, Albany-commit Ryan Ferremi (East Islip 2021) struck out but St. John’s-commit Joe Durso (Kellenberg 2021) was hit by a pitch in the leg to get himself on base. Luke Schartner (Bayport-Blue Point 2021) bunted back to Hynes, who made a throw to second that drew the shortstop off the bag. That represented a crucial moment in the game. The Titans attempted a suicide squeeze, but the attempt failed and Durso was tagged out at the plate. The following batter was New Haven-commit Cole Maucere (West Babylon 2021) who struck out to end the inning.
In the top of the ninth, there was a palpable energy in the crowd despite the clock hitting 9 o’clock. Ventimiglia struck out the first batter, but allowed a one-out double to Rizzo to left center field. It appeared it might be a triple but the relay was executed well to hold him at second. That was critical as Venti wound up working around the hit to record his 17th and final strikeout of the evening.
It all came to a head in the 9th when leadoff batter Jordan Zucker (Roslyn 2021) led off with a clean single to left. The bunt attempt got the runner in scoring position and the intentional walk to Stony Brook-commit Matt DeStefano brought up Roselli, and the rest is history.
This concludes a wildly-successful season for the Titans-Quattrini group that has won 43 games, lost three and tied twice. They won six tournaments including two at Diamond Nation, Perfect Game, Blue Chip and now this weekend. Perfect Game ranked them as the top team in the region. They compiled a team ERA of 1.50. It will be fun to track the progress of this group as they begin the next phase of their career.
