by Aaron Rothschild
Early Sunday Morning the South Shore Chiefs and the Franklin Square Tigers would face off in a double header filled with high level baseball from the two 11u teams in Massapequa. The Chiefs would sweep the double header with scores of 5-1 and 15-2.
Game one of the double header was headlined by some great pitching by both teams. Tyler Baktis would get the start for the Chiefs and he was fantastic. In the top of the first he would work around a walk and a HBP to maintain a scoreless first. The Chiefs would then come up to bat and come out hot, a leadoff single by Aiden Van Nostrand followed by two stolen bases would be followed by a pickoff gone wrong at third resulting in a run. Jack Mulligan would drive in the second run of the game on a ground out to second, and an infield single by Kieran Connolly would drive in the third run of the inning.
Nobody would reach base for either team in the second or third as both pitchers settled into magnificent rhythms.
In the fourth, Baktis would render another 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to finish his day. In the bottom of the inning the Tigers would bring in N. Kokosinshi who would start his day with a 1-2-3 inning.
To start the fifth the Chiefs would bring in Blake Seidenstein to pitch and he would continue the streak of keeping runners off base with another 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom of the inning a leadoff single by Chris Saltanna would be followed by an RBI single by Kieran Connoly to make it 4-0. Joseph Laudisio would extend the lead to 5-0 after an RBI groundout and the inning would close soon after.
Seidenstein would look to close the game and he would work around an RBI double off the bat of V. Bourne and limit the damage closing the game out with a final score of 5-1.
Game Two
Game two of the double header was certainly a bit more one-sided as a great start for the Chiefs would just be too much for the Tigers to overcome. D. Bosco would get the start for the Tigers and the Chiefs bats were ready to go as they showed a great balance between aggressive hitting and good plate discipline. With two men on and nobody out Mulligan would drive in two runs with a double to open the scoring. The third run would score on another double by Saltanna, and rundown would score the fourth soon after. The Tigers would then put in B. Mitchell after a pair of walks, he would proceed to walk in two more runs making it 6-0. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Seidenstein would make it 7. The top of the order would come back to the plate where Baktis would strike a 2 run double to make it 9. And a two run single by Mulligan would total 4 RBIs for the inning and make it 11-0 as that would be the last run of the inning.
Mulligan, who drove in four in the first, would then take the bump and fire a 1-2-3 inning to close the frame. New Pitcher V. Bourne would stabilize the Tigers, recording a scoreless second. The Tigers would scratch a run across to make it 11-1 in the bottom of the inning.
The top of the third would start with a triple but Bourne would pull off a great pickoff at third base to take him off the bases. He would then proceed to keep the top of the third scoreless, working around a single and a walk. In the bottom of the third the
Tigers would show some fight scoring another run on a Bourne fielder’s choice as L. Koehler would score their second run.
In the top of the fourth the Chiefs could see the mercy rule in sight and would scor four runs highlighted by a two runs scoring on a low throw that would go off the first baseman’s mitt and over the fence resulting in the runners able to advance. This would give Seidenstein two more RBI’s on a great day for him. The Tigers would go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning and that is how the game would end after 4.
It was an extremely impressive display of coaching and preparation from both teams as the fielding and approaches as well as execution from players was phenomenal across the board.
