by Gabe Zoda
Spoke with coach Brandon Stein for the LIB True Diamond squad after their 10-4 victory over the LI Storm. pic.twitter.com/DKWKLgOzZE
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 3, 2021
Yesterday kicked off the 4th of July Stars and Stripes Tournament. In the 15u section, the LI Storm played against the LIB True Diamond. On a rainy day, these two squads seemed to find the perfect spot to play at Plainedge HS for their matchup.
At the end of the day, LIB True Diamond would take the game by a score of 10-4. For most of the game, though, it was very close. One inning would end up changing all of that.
The first inning would go by without any runs being scored. Starting Pitchers,(LP) Jimmy Stroehlien for the Storm and (WP) Danny Onorato for LIB True Diamond were able to make batters get themselves out in that inning.
The scoring would start in the bottom of the second. In this inning the Storm would strike first and take a 1-0 lead. It started with Ryan Foerst who belted a 2B to leadoff the inning. The next batter, Gavin Donoghue, would get hit by a pitch to have 2 runners on with no outs. Brady Karol would then get a free base to load up the bases.
With the bases loaded, that would bring up Josh Cohen. He would drive in Ryan Foerst with a single that got through the infield to give the Storm a 1-0 lead.
True Diamond would punch right back in the top of third to tie it up. Doug Davies would get things started in this inning with a quality at bat that led to a walk. Nico Cuadrado, who was up next would lay down a bunt that was meant to just move over the runner but ended up doing a lot more.
The bunt went right back to the starting pitcher for the storm and would miscommunicate with the first baseman. This miscommunication would lead to the ball being thrown away. Once the ball was thrown away it rolled into foul territory long enough to allow Doug Davies to score from 1st to tie things up at 1. The offense would not stop in the 3rd inning though.
In the bottom half of the 3rd, the Storm would bounce right back and regain possession of the lead. This time, they would score 2 to give them a 3-1 lead.
Leadoff batter Jack Bodkin was the first baserunner for the Storm in this inning as he walked. He would then steal a base and move over to third after the ground out from Jimmy Stroehlien.
Bodkin would then come in to score from a balk from pitcher Danny Onorato to make it 2-1 in favor of the Storm. Dan Lamberston, who was at bat during the balk, got on base himself and stole himself to land on second.
Lamberston would later reach 3rd base and come in to score the same way Bodkin did. Those two balks would bring in both of the runs that the Storm would score in that inning to give them a 3-1 lead through 3 innings of play.
The 4th inning would be quiet for both squads but that inning would serve as the calm before the storm as in the top of the 5th inning the LIB True Diamond squad would unleash 9 runs that would give them a 10-3 lead.
Marcello Licata would deliver the first strike in this inning. He would launch a leadoff 3B into left center. Grayson Goodstein would follow things up right after him with a single that dropped right in front of the RF.
Doug Davies would continue the offense with a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs.
The Storm would be able to get the next batter out to make it a one out situation. True Diamond would then take into next gear as the next 8 batters would all reach safely. Jack Cohen would start off this streak with a walk which would load the bases.
Justin Babiak would drive in Grayson Goodstein with a 1B. That would tie things back up at 3, but they were definitely not done.
After him, Devin Lake would drive in 2 runners with a single of his own to make it a 5-3 game. The bases would then get loaded once again after a walk from Jack Puuogel.
Nick Anderson would make it a 6-3 ballgame after his single and Chris Nell would make it 7-3 after his walk. With that walk, the LI Storm would take out Jimmy Stroehlein and bring in Relief Pitcher Josh Cohen.
Marcello Licata would come back to bat for the second time in the inning and this time he would be hit by a pitch. That would bring in one more to make it an 8-3 ballgame.
Grayson Goodstein would tack one another run after his walk made the score 9-3. That would conclude the on base streak as Doug Davies would ground into an FC. That FC would bring in the 9th and final run of the inning for the True Diamond Team.
In the Bottom half of the inning, the LI Storm were unable to score any so through 5 innings of play, the score would be 10-3.
The Storm would be able to get one more run before the day was over. This run would come in the bottom of the 6th. This inning would serve as the last inning as the game had reached its 2 hour limit.
In this bottom half, the Storm would go out with one last strike. Gavin Donoghue would start things off with a shot out to left field which would land him on 2nd Base.
Right after him was Brady Karol, who would send out a blast of his own out and over the CF’s head. This would easily score in Donoghue to make the score 10-4 and that’s where it would end.
LIB True Diamond looks to continue their success in the tournament as they take on Batting 1.000 Seminoles-Falcaro next and the LI Storm look to bounce back against Knight Nation. Both of those games will be played on the 4th.
