by Nicholas Cipolla
Final: Sharks win 9-1 and claim the 17/18u varsity championship pic.twitter.com/MiHFvmYk56
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 21, 2021
Sharks Baseball Academy was in control of this one from start to finish and it seemed nothing (not even a potential hurricane making landfall) would get in their way.
The Sharks won the Boys of Summer 17/18u championship game over the EastEnd Aviators 9-1 in 5 innings due to the mercy rule coming into play.
It all started for the Sharks in the top of the first inning. After three walks the bases were loaded with two outs, bringing Ryan Kunak to the plate. He ripped a 2 run single back up the middle to give his team an early 2-0 lead.
In the top of the second inning, Sean Evangelista hit a high pop up between second base and center field that ended up dropping in for a base hit, scoring another run to make it 3-0 Sharks.
In the bottom half of the third, the Aviators threatened with a man on third and one out. Sean Hamilton hit a fly ball out to right field that would almost certainly score a run. However, we all learned that you should never run on outfielder Christian Toledo as he threw a missile to the plate to get the runner tagging from third at the plate to end the inning.
In the top of the fourth, Toledo was at it again. After a few things went the Sharks way with two outs (including a batter reaching first on a dropped third strike), Toledo stepped up and put this game even further out of reach by hitting a Grand Slam way over the wall in left center to make it a 7-0 game.
After a great play in the field last inning, Christian Toledo hits a 2 out Grand Slam in the top of the fourth to make it a 7-0 Sharks lead. pic.twitter.com/cQwoe8v71a
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 21, 2021
The Aviators were able to get one run in by way of an RBI groundout by Daniel Tiederman in the bottom of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, Sean Evangelista hit a two run double into left field to make it a 9-1 game and put the mercy rule into play in the bottom of the inning.
The Sharks were able to secure the final three outs in the bottom of the fifth (including two plays at home plate to prevent a run from scoring) to claim the 2021 Boys of Summer 17/18u Varsity Championship.
Nathan Yee went the distance for the Sharks, only allowing one run on three hits. He was making quick work of the Aviators only allowing soft contact and not falling behind in counts early.
And with this game finishing, that concludes a summer of baseball on Long Island. What a year it was! Hopefully 2022 will be just as exciting and full of great moments just like this season was.
