by Andrew Connors
We spoke to Garden City Head Coach Dave Izzo about his thoughts following the 5-3 championship victory pic.twitter.com/knlgdqS1AT
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 20, 2021
There’s nothing better than championship baseball on Father’s Day, and Sunday morning proved that as Garden City and Huntington put on a show that didn’t disappoint. On a day that was as hot as Sunday was, you would expect some teams to come out a little sluggish but that wasn’t the case in this game.
The Garden City Trojans jumped on the scoreboard shortly after the first pitch of the game was thrown. They scored two runs in the first inning and showed Huntington that they were going to be aggressive at the plate all day. Huntington didn’t just take the punch and roll over though, they fought back in the bottom of the first and scored a run of their own.
However, Garden City seemed to have Huntington’s number the rest of the way, as they went on to outscore them 5-3 when it was all said and done. That’s not to say that Huntington didn’t put up a great fight though. The Blue Devils had multiple runners reach base every inning following the first one, and even two separate innings leaving bases loaded. The opportunities were there for Huntington, they just couldn’t come through when they needed it most.
The starting pitcher for Garden City, Frank Santeramo, earned the win as he threw the first three innings of the game for the Trojans. He looked very sharp in his time on the mound, allowing only one hit, one run, and two walks. Heading into the fourth inning, Aidan Magnotta was brought in to relieve Santeramo. Magnotta only threw one inning but he looked good as well, striking out two and only allowing one hit, no runs, and three walks. Gabe Beschloss came in to close the door for the Trojans to begin the 5th inning. He seemed to be cruising through his outing, but Beschloss had trouble getting the final out as he walked a pair of batters and gave up a couple of hits. This gave Huntington a chance to get back into the game as they closed the gap to 5-3. Beschloss ended up getting the final batter to fly out, and his final statline at the end of his three innings included three hits allowed, two earned runs, three walks and five strikeouts.
On the offensive side of things for Garden City, Joe Frandina and Jack Fanning had standout performances that led their team to the win. Frandina went 2-for-3 on the day with a double, a single, an RBI and a run scored. His run scored was one of the two for the Trojans in the first inning that helped get them out in front early. Fanning went 1-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a couple of nice plays at shortstop to make up for his early error that led to Huntington’s first run.
For Huntington, they sent Palmer O’Beirne out as their starter. O’Beirne battled through this game. Most of the damage done to O’Beirne came in the first few innings, but after that he really settled in and gave Huntington a good outing. He finished with 7 hits allowed, 3 earned runs, a walk and three strikeouts in 5 innings of work. Alex Bellissimo, who started the game at second base, came in to relieve O’Beirne in the sixth inning. His appearance was short and quick, as he faced four batters and only gave up one hit.
Here’s the last out ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eP3DK3YRYL
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 20, 2021
The Blue Devils had some offensive standouts as well, including Kyle Collelouri and Alex Bellissimo. Collelouri looked very confident at the plate today, as he put up a 2-for-4 performance. This included a first-inning RBI double and a single in the 7th inning where he would come around to score in Huntington’s late rally attempt. For Bellissimo, he singled in the 5th inning and walked in a run in the 7th, extending their hopes at a comeback. He ended the day 2-for-3.
At the end of the day, Huntington fought hard but Garden City was the better team. Both teams had outstanding seasons and have a bunch of reasons to hold their heads high, but this time the championship goes to the Garden City Trojans for the first time since 2000.
