by Nicholas Cipolla
Heads up base running from Connor Ackerman to tie the game at 7 in the bottom of the third inning. pic.twitter.com/5FBeKMCG0l
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 3, 2021
Once again, mother nature has ruined a potentially exciting game of baseball.
In an anticlimactic and unfortunate ending, the rain proved to be coming down too hard for the game to continue on, leaving the game tied up at 7.
Despite only lasting four quick innings, there was plenty of action in this game.
In the bottom of the first inning, East Meadow first baseman Dom Longardino stepped up to the plate and crushed a ball way over the wall in left center. The ball nearly cleared a fence that was 80 or so feet from the left center wall, leaving everyone who saw it in disbelief.
That home run sparked a huge bottom half of the first inning for East Meadow. A few batters later, Matthew Amy hit a RBI single making it a 2-0 game. The next batter was the starting pitcher, Matt Esslinger. Esslinger hit a line drive to left field, scoring two (including Amy) to help his own cause and to make the score 4-0.
On the very next pitch, CJ Rojas hit a ball that got by the right fielder for a triple, knocking in Esslinger easily. This hit gave East Meadow a commanding 5-0 lead over the Wolfpack.
However, the Wolfpack wasn’t going to give up. After a walk and a few stolen bases, Charlie Gueli had a prime opportunity to knock in the first run for the Wolfpack. Gueli capitalized on this opportunity and he knocked in the run with an infield single that was hit softly between third base and the pitcher.
After a strikeout from Kyle Francis who came in for Esslinger after 1.1 innings of solid work, 495 Wolfpack sent their pitcher Chase Mcquaid to the plate with two outs. Mcquaid quickly went down 0-2. That’s when he began to fight off some really good pitches and eventually had the count at 3-2. He took a 3-2 pitch that was close and drew a bases loaded walk, keeping the inning alive and cutting the East Meadow win to only 3. The next batter Garcia ripped an RBI single right up the middle to make it a 5-3 game. Francis was able to escape the inning without allowing another run to cross the plate.
With a runner on third in the bottom half of the second, Nico Rodriguez layed down a perfect bunt that drew the catcher a bit too far from the plate, allowing the runner from third to score easily. Making the score 6-3 East Meadow.
The Wolfpack came out looking for blood in the third inning. After another bases loaded walk, this time Xander Arias was the beneficiary of the free pass, Nick Pascalli hit a rocket the other way to left center that went all the way to the wall. That cleared the bases and gave the Wolfpack their first lead of the game after trailing by five runs after the first inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Connor Ackerman showed off some high baseball IQ. He stood on second when Matthew Amy stepped up to the plate. The hit and run worked here as Amy hit a ball right back to the pitcher and got the only out he could at first. However Ackerman never stopped running and he slid into home as the throw from the first baseman was rushed and wild, tying the game up at 7 all.
In the 4th Inning, Ackerman took the mound and shut down the suddenly scorching 495 Wolfpack offense. East Meadow put the go ahead run on third base with two outs but Chase Mcquaid was able to get out of the inning with no runs scored for East Meadow.
After this inning, the umpires met and came to the conclusion that the game would be called as the rain began to pick up and it looked like it wasn’t going to slow down any time soon.
An unfortunate end to an exciting game to say the least. Hopefully both teams can get back on track tomorrow and that the rain holds out so we don’t have any more cancellations this weekend that is expected to be full of exciting baseball games.
