by Gabe Zoda
FINAL: Blue Devils 6,
South Shore Elite 5,
WP: Sean Jones (5ks, 2BBs, 2ER)South Shore Elite almost able to make the comeback but fall in the first game. pic.twitter.com/7g1IYOLva9
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 15, 2021
Morning baseball is always a great way to start off the day and the same can be said for this LI Boys of Summer game between the South Shore Elite and the Blue Devils. This game took a little bit to get the action going but when it started, it never stopped.
At the end of this first game of their scheduled double header, the Blue Devils ended up taking it by the score of 6-5. The game was contested the entire time and was decided only after the final out was recorded.
Talking about taking a little bit to get going, the first run of the game was pushed through in the top of the third inning. In the top of the inning, the Blue Devils would pop off 3 runs and give themselves a nice 3-0 lead in this game.
The best part was the fact that it was all done with 2 outs. The long rally was kicked off with a single right back up the middle by Brendan Gharagozlo. After the single came a walk to Sean Jones, who was also the Starting Pitcher for the Blue Devils.
That first blow would be punched by Kevin Reilly when he hit a grounder through the 5-6 hole to bring in Gharagozlo to give the Devils a 1-0 lead but they weren’t finished quite yet.
Later on in the inning Matt O’Modie smashed a 2B and also brought in 2 runners in the process. These 2 hits gave the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, South Shore Elite needed to respond and they would do exactly that. They would score 2 runs in this inning and put them down only 1 run going into the 4th.
Unlike the Devils, the Elite would strike immediately as PJ Michielini kicked things off with a walk. Following the walk PJ stole 2nd and eventually got to third base. It would be the perfect place to be for when Danny Ratkewitch hit a single that would bring him home.
After that single, Matt Pappas and John Dinkleman hit back to back singles to load up the bases. That would bring up Mike McGodrick. He would do a great job in getting a ball lifted to the outfield. This allowed Danny to get in on the sac fly. Those 2 runs would cut the lead to 1 going into the 4th.
Unfortunately for South Shore, that one run lead didn’t last for too long as the Blue Devils would tack on a run in the top of the 4th.
In Blue Devil fashion, they once again score this run on a small 2 out rally. It only needed 2 batters and it only took 2 singles.
The first single was from Michael Monte. He then used his speed to move himself into scoring position. Monte set himself and his team up to score and Matthew Orena stepped up and delivered with an opposite field hit. This hit was enough to get Monte in to score.
South Shore Elite was unable to respond in the 5th and the Blue Devils used that scoreless spot to their advantage to add an insurance run in the top of the 5th inning.
This inning started off with a single from Sean Jones, he was then replaced on the basepaths by Brendan Gharagozlo and he would steal second. Matt Omodie then knocked him in with an RBI single. This gave them a 5-2 lead but the Elite would try and claw back by taking one more run in the bottom of the 5th inning.
It would only take 2 batters for this run to come in as well. It started with a single from leadoff batter John Dinkleman. He would steal and eventually end up on 3rd base and put himself 90 feet away from home and all he needed was for someone to get him there.
That somebody would end up being Dylan Labonte, who crushed a ball to right center which allowed Dinkleman to score easily from 3rd. That score made it a 5-3 game.
In the 6th inning, the back and forth scoring continued when the Devils brought the lead back to 3 runs.
This inning started up with Michael Monte and Matthew Orena once again. This time it was a single from Monte and then a walk to Orena.
The blow to bring in the run was when Brendan Gharagozlo launched a 2B that almost brought in 2 runs but only scored one to give them a 6th run that would end up being massive at the end of this game.
The reason why it was massive was because of what the South Shore Elite squad did in the bottom of the 7th.
Matt Pappas started things off by getting on base after getting hit by a pitch. After that, John Dinkleman walked and made it a first and 2nd situation with one out. Mike McGodrick then singled which brought in Pappas and made it a 6-4 game. The game really got dicy for the Blue Devils when they gave up a second run in the inning.
This second run came in after Joe Reid shot out a 2B. That would make it a 6-5 game and that is where things would end as the Blue Devils secured the final out in the next AB.
In the second game, the South Shore Elite team won in quick fashion as they exploded with 13 runs in 3 innings which became a Mercy rule. So both teams take a win in the DH and look forward to the Playoffs.
