by Gabe Zoda
F/6 Breakers 13, Clippers 1. We spoke with WP Robert Lucano after his performance on the mound (CG, 6IP, 5Ks, 0BBs). pic.twitter.com/TrKYmRysu0
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 26, 2021
The 1st place Southampton Breakers took on the South Shore Clippers at Bellport High School in a doubleheader today. These two games were very different from each other and the scores reflect just that. They would split the doubleheader.
Just like the winners of each game, they would also end in different ways. The first game was very close and a true battle until the very end. The final score was 3-2 in favor of the Clippers but how they got there was truly something to watch.
The winning pitcher for the game would be Liam Pulsipher (CG, , 0BBs, 10 Ks). He would start his day off recording the first 2 of what would end up being 10 Ks. The Clippers knew they needed to capitalize on this and they would do just that in the bottom of the 1st.
Paul Orbon would start things off for the Clippers with a leadoff single. Then with one out, Hofstra product Aidan Larkin would hit a one out single, moving Orbon second.
Orbon would end up scoring the first run of the game due to an RBI single from Matt Brown-Eiring. This single would only be the first of three he would have in this game.
The Clippers could smell blood in this first game seeing as their starting pitcher Liam Pulsipher was continuing to deal. They needed to tack on another insurance run to get a more comfortable lead and they would do just that in the bottom of the third.
This time it would be Alex Ungar who would score the run but it would take a couple of batters for him to get on. Chad Pike started off this inning with a single but a fielder’s choice from Aidan Larkin took him off of the base paths. Larkin would then get picked off between 2nd and 3rd.
With two outs, Alex Ungar takes his walk that lands him on first. After Ungar it would be Matt Brown-Eiring striking again with his second single of the game. Now with 2 men on, Mike Draskin would follow the trend and get a hit of his own.
This hit would end up being a 2B which would bring in Ungar to make the Score 2-0. The 1st place Breakers were not going to roll over though and they proved just this in the top of the 5th.
In this inning they would put up 2 runs to tie the game up. This offensive spurt would begin with Andrew Primm who would shoot out a single. David Franchi would repeat the exact thing right behind him to give the Breakers runners on 1st and 2nd with only one out.
It seemed that they got to Pulsipher and they kept their foot on the pedal in this inning. Andrew Veit would then reach due to an error made on the second baseman. That error would end up going in dead ball territory meaning that Veit would move to 2nd and Andrew Primm (who was on 3rd) would come in to score.
They wouldn’t be done scoring in this inning though. The next batter, Ryan Spreckels would get himself a single that would score Veit from 2nd to tie things up at 2.
Bats would be quiet in the 6th making the 7th inning even more nerve racking. In the top of the inning, Clippers pitcher Liam Pulsipher was going for the CG and showed that he had made a full rebound from that 5th inning blunder.
He would get his last 2 strikeouts to put the ball in the hands of the offense to close things out and they would deliver just that in the bottom half of the inning.
Since it was a double header, they would be only playing 7 innings making this bottom half equivalent to a bottom of the 9th situation for the Clippers. With one out in the inning Alex Ungar stepped into the box.
Andrew Ledbetter, relief pitcher for the Breakers had just struck out the previous batter so he was dialed in. First pitch to Ungar came in but he took it for ball one. The second pitch would be located in the strike zone but unfortunately for Ledbetter, he had placed it right in Alex Ungar’s wheelhouse.
The right handed batter would launch a solo shot to the opposite field to walk things off for the Clippers and give them their second win in a row. They had all the momentum on their side going into game 2 but the Breakers were poised to show why they were in 1st place and would put that poise on display in the second game.
In this second game, the Breakers would make sure they left Bellport High School with a win. They didn’t want any other win though, they wanted to make this one big. They would end up taking the game by a score of 13-1. They seemed to be firing on both sides of the ball.
They didn’t start off firing though as it would be, once again, the South Shore Clippers who would put in the game’s first run. It looked like the Clippers were riding that momentum from the last couple of games because they came in and scored right in the first inning.
Paul Orbon would start things off once again with a single. TJ Werner and Aidan Larkin would ground into 2 FC’s leaving Larkin on first with 2 outs. Matt Brown-Eiring came up big once again and delivered his 4th single of the day.
Mike Draskin would deliver the RBI single with 2 outs. This would score Larkin from second and give the Clippers an early 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately for them, that would be the last run they would score and Southampton would take control of the game.
Southampton only had one inning in which they didn’t score a run and that was in the first. The 2nd was when they started to shift the game into their hands. In this inning, Marco Ali would start things off with a single. David Franchi would then step into the box. Ali would steal 2nd leaving him in scoring position.
Franchi would take first base after getting hit by a pitch. Beau Root would drive in Southampton’s first of 13 runs with a single that would score Marco Ali.
They wouldn’t score any more in the 2nd but they would put up 2 more in the very next inning. This time it would Tyler Robinson who would get the inning going with a walk. Brett Cook would end up landing on 1st due to an E-5. Parker Stinson would move the runners over to 2nd and 3rd after his groundout to the 2nd baseman.
Marco Ali would be the next batter and he would provide the first RBI in this inning due to his single that scored Tyler Robinson, who was on 3rd. The second run would come in by Brett Cook who moved to third on the Ali single. Cook would score on a stolen base to bring the score to 3-1.
F/6 Breakers 13, Clippers 1. We spoke with WP Robert Lucano after his performance on the mound (CG, 6IP, 5Ks, 0BBs). pic.twitter.com/TrKYmRysu0
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 26, 2021
The big explosion of runs would happen in the next inning as the Breakers would put up 6 runs in the top of the 4th.
Catcher for the Breakers, Matt Yip, would leadoff this inning with a walk and then ended up moving to 2nd due to an error made by the pitcher on a pickoff move. Thomas Eitniear would follow up with a walk of his own to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.
That would flip the lineup and bring up Will Gale who ended up loading the bases after his single. The first run of this inning would be scored due to Tyler Robinson walking which brought in Matt Yip.
Brett Cook would bring in another run with a FC. An error made from the catcher would allow Thomas Eitniear to come in. Ali would bring in the 3rd run by a walk with the bases loaded. This scored Robinson but they weren’t done there.
F/6 Breakers 13, Clippers 1. We spoke with WP Robert Lucano after his performance on the mound (CG, 6IP, 5Ks, 0BBs). pic.twitter.com/TrKYmRysu0
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 26, 2021
Two runs would come in after a 2B from Franchi. This would score Cook and Stinson. Beau Root would drive in the last run of this inning with a sac fly. That would score Marco Ali to make it 9-1.
The Breakers would score 2 runs in the 5th and another 2 in the 6th.
In the 5th, Robinson would walk to start the inning. Cook was hit by a pitch right afterwards to put Robinson in scoring position. Parker Stinson would walk to load up the bases with no outs in the inning.
Ali would get his 3rd RBI of the game with a sac fly which scored Robinson and Cook would score in the next at bat when Franchi grounded out to the pitcher.
Southampton put up 2 more in quicker fashion in the top of the 6th. Will Gale walked his way onto first and Robinson would do it all himself and blast a 2 run HR that was a no-doubter off the bat.
In the bottom half of the 6th (which would end up being the final inning), Robert Lucano closed out his CG to seal the win for him and the Breakers. Lucano went 6 IP, had 5 Ks and walked 0 batters while only allowing that 1 run in the first inning.
The Breakers (7-4) look to continue at their top of the league pace as the Clippers (5-6) look to use the momentum they got from the first game to propel themselves over .500.
