by Andrew Connors
(Editor’s Note: This is a game recap of the semifinal game, they went on to defeat Beast Crimson in the finals, 4-3)
Jace Alvino talks with us about the display of power he put on tonight. pic.twitter.com/23yg055lFe
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 3, 2020
On a frigid November night of baseball, Team Francisco’s bats provided the heat in their 13-4 victory over the Steel Crimson. While both teams jumped on the scoreboard early, the Steel Crimson simply couldn’t slow down or keep up with Team Francisco’s high-powered offense.
Tommy O’Neill was the starting pitcher for Team Francisco. Despite a rough first inning for O’Neill, he finished his outing with five strikeouts, four walks and only one earned run through three innings of work. He did a good job of mixing speeds, relying on his fastball early in the count and burying the hitters with curveballs once he was ahead in the count. When O’Neill came out of the game, Team Francisco brought in hard-throwing right-hander Nick Walker. Walker breezed through the Steel Crimson lineup for two innings, allowing no hits while striking out two.
Despite a lead off walk drawn by the Crimson Steel, Tommy O’Neill strikes out three in a row as we head to the bottom of the second inning! pic.twitter.com/yphwt4Dhhw
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 2, 2020
The starting pitcher for the Steel Crimson was Mike Milo. He seemed like he couldn’t settle in as Team Francisco’s hitters were aggressive early in the count and looked to jump on first pitch strikes as often as they could. Although Milo wasn’t sharp tonight, his defense wasn’t doing him any favors either as the Steel Crimson made three errors throughout the 4-inning game. After Milo’s two innings on the mound, Ryan Murphy was brought in to relieve for the Steel Crimson.
On the offensive side of things, a couple of players had great days at the plate for Team Francisco. Jace Alvino went 3-for-3 on Monday night with a single, a two RBI double, and a home run to deep left center field in the fourth inning. His teammates Nick Walker, Aidan Murphy, and Anthony Rigogliosi were also key contributors as they all had RBIs as well.
Jace Alvino comes up big for Team Francisco! He drives a ball to deep centerfield, scoring one and leaving runners on second and third. pic.twitter.com/g6SYW6X1Kd
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 2, 2020
As for the Steel Crimson, Matt Mayer plated the first run of the game on a short chopper to third with the bases loaded. After that, it was a pair of quiet innings for the Crimson Steel before they started to chip away at Team Francisco’s lead. However when the third inning rolled around, Mike Milo got things started with a leadoff single and later scored due to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ryan Leniec. Shortly after that, Matt Mayer notched his second RBI of the game on a line drive to right center field and later came around to score.
Team Francisco fought off this short burst in momentum displayed by the Steel Crimson and after the conclusion of the top of the fifth inning, the game was called by the umpires due to the established time limit. With this game now in the rear view mirror, the #1 seeded Team Francisco will certainly hope to keep their hot bats on fire as they prepare for the championship game against the #3 seed BEAST Crimson later on Monday night.
