by Nicholas Cipolla
Johnathon Hayes hits an RBI double to center field to make it a 6-3 game in the bottom of the fifth inning. pic.twitter.com/c5BCcZDe7w
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 22, 2021
The B1000 Seminoles were able to get out to a quick start, and it proved to be too much for the South Shore Sharks in tonight’s game.
The Seminoles got to bat first and they really took advantage of the opportunity. Jase Weiner got the game started with a hard single to right, Matteo Fiore followed up with another line drive base hit. Two batters later PJ Campagnuolo reached base on a perfectly placed ground ball that no one on the infield could make a play on it.
That gave Michael Midea Jr stepped up to the plate with one out. He hit a ball into the right center gap that dropped in front of the center fielder for a base hit, knocking in the first two runs of the game and giving his team a 2-0 lead.
That gave starting pitcher Sawyer Sparacia a comfortable lead and some room for error. However, Sparacia was dominant over three innings of work, only allowing two hits through his first time through the lineup, striking out 6 of the 10 batters he faced.
In the top of the second inning, a throwing error on a first and third pickoff move gave the Seminoles a 3-0 lead and gave Sawyer Sparacia an opportunity to help himself. After a stolen base, he had a chance to get a run in easily on a ground ball. He ended up hitting a cue shot off the end of the bat that proved to be too difficult for the pitcher to make a play on it, scoring a run and pushing the lead to 4 runs.
In the third inning, a pass ball allowed Michael Zacharias to come home and score, giving his team another insurance run.
In the top of the fourth, Zachary Jeshiva seemed to have put the finishing touches on this one as he hit a laser back up the middle scoring one more run, making the score 6-0 Seminoles.
However the Sharks didn’t want to go away easily. They made some adjustments and were able to have some quality at bats against Sparacia.
The Sharks loaded the bases with one out for Thomas Hoy in the bottom of the fourth inning. He kept the line moving as he hit a ground ball up the middle that got through for a base hit to make the score 6-1.
Cayden McCormick stepped up next and he put together a good at bat and drew a bases loaded walk to make it 6-2. However, Sparacia weathered the storm and struck the next batter out and got a ground ball out after that to end the frame without any further damage occurring.
After Peter Palotti threw the Sharks first scoreless inning of the game in the top of the fifth inning, the Sharks seemed to have gained momentum heading towards the bottom of the last inning of play (there is a 2 hour time limit on games). Matt Vlahakis legged out a one out infield single to third, stole second and then third base on consecutive pitches setting up Johnathan Hayes with a RBI chance.
Hayes delivered with a fly ball that landed just out of the reach of the center fielder for a double and scored Vlahakis easily from third. This cut the lead in half and gave the Sharks even more momentum. After a Brad Albenda walk, Sawyer Sparacia had a Gerrit Cole-esque moment where he pushed through and struck out the next two batters, slamming the door on the game and giving his team a win.
Sparacia finished the game with a line of 5 complete innings, 5 hits, 9 strikeouts and 2 earned runs. His early dominance and ability to swing momentum away from the Sharks proved to be the X-factor in today’s game.
