by Gabe Zoda
After the game, we were able to chat with WP Nick Williams (4IP, 4Ks, 1BB) for the LI Thunder. pic.twitter.com/2g9mhEBLUO
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 11, 2021
Sunday held some more LI Boys of Summer DH action. Plainedge was home to the 14u game between the LI Thunder and Dodger Nation.
This game was between two friendly teams as most of the guys between the two teams have played together before so the atmosphere was all good vibes on that baseball field.
Unfortunately one team had to lose in these games and it was shown pretty early who that team would be.
At the end of the day, the LI Thunder would win both games of the DH. The first game ended in a run-rule through 5 innings. The final score of that game was 13-2. In the second game the score would be a little closer but the Thunder would take that one by the score of 4-0.
It wouldn’t all be down for Dodgers Nation as in the first game they were up for quite a bit. In fact they would start the scoring in the first game.
They put up 2 runs in the top of the 2nd inning off the bat of Vito Lonardo. The action would start with leadoff batter Joe Thomas who walked. The next two batters (Jayden Loccisano and Zach Migliore) would also walk to make the bases loaded. Thomas would get picked off to leave an open spot for a runner and Guy Mangano would take that spot with a walk as well.
That would bring up starting pitcher for the Dodgers, Lonardo and he would send a single into the outfield that would bring in 2 runs and give them a 2-0 lead.
That 2-0 lead would last until the 4th inning. Lonardo was pitching a really good game until that 4th inning when everything seemed to get out of hand for the Dodgers Nation.
That start of that inning would show the writing on the walls as Nick D’Aquino launched a 2B. After that there would be a stretch that would end up to 13 runs in that inning. Nick Williams started that stretch off with a single.
Vinny Azzariti walked to load up the bases. From here the cascade of runs would ensue. AJ Cantore singled to bring in the first run. After that Anthony Asaro walked in run number 2.
Domenick Caponi drove in a run with a 1B of his own and then a throwing error would clear the rest of the bases and leave Caponi on 3rd. This sequence made the score 5-2. Matthew Biscardi walked, Nick D’Aquino got hit by a pitch and the bases were back to being loaded.
Tommy DeSantis walked to bring in one more, Williams would follow that up with a walk of his own. Right after Williams, Azzariti would mark the 3rd walk in a row. The next 3 batters (AJ Cantore, Anthony Asaro and Justin Haluck) would all reach on errors and runners would come home in all of those scenarios.
After that the inning would finally end but the damage was already done. They had just put up a 13 spot and after not being able to score in the top of the 5th, they ended it due to the run rule.
After that first game, the Dodgers Nation Squad had a lengthy talk about how to clean up their play in the second game. They seemed to answer that call as they cleaned up their defense in that second game.
Unfortunately the bats would not follow along as they wouldn’t be able to score any runs but the LI Thunder performed really well in this second game.
This good performance really started with starting and winning pitcher, Nick Williams. He ended up pitching for 4 innings of the 6 played. He struck out 4 and only walked 1 batter throughout this game.
This Thunder squad seemed to rally behind their pitcher and gave him 4 runs of run support before his day was done.
The first 2 of those 4 runs would come in the 2nd inning. Nick D’Aquino would start things off once again with a walk. He would move over to second on a stolen base and then end up on 3rd after a single from Tommy DeSantis. Vinny Azzariti would load the Bases on a walk.
The first run would come after a wild pitch. This would score AJ Cantore, who was pinch running.
The second run would be scored by Tommy Desantis after Justin Haluck walked with the bases loaded. Those 2 runs would make it 2-0 in the 2nd but later on in the game they would have another 2 run inning to make it 4-0.
This second spurt of runs would come in the 4th inning. To kickoff this inning, Azzariti would single to center field. Anthony Asaro would then work his second walk of the game . Vinny would end up coming in after another wild pitch to make it a 3-0 ballgame.
The final run of the inning came off the bat of Domenick Caponi again. His single in the 4th would drive in Anthony Asaro and make it a 4-0 ballgame.
The LI Thunder would then put on 2 really nice pitching performances after DeSantis and Cantore would not allow the Dodgers to get anything going. These two innings were crucial in not allowing any sort of comeback from their opposition.
F/6 LI Thunder 4, Dodgers Nation 0 pic.twitter.com/kOtUsTeQQf
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 11, 2021
The game would end after the completion of the 6th inning due to time constraints. The LI Thunder continue their strong season as there record moves to 8-4 after winning both games of the DH and Dodgers Nation fall to 3-6 on the season with obvious hopes of getting back to where they want to be.
