Kyle Rosenberg on his 11 K performance in Wheatley’s huge 3-2 win over previously undefeated Oyster Bay pic.twitter.com/KH0YBA8ZfD
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 11, 2022
A battle of the unbeatens.
Two 6-0 Nassau Class B teams went head-to-head on Monday afternoon with the reigning champs, Wheatley, coming away with a 3-2 victory in a very well-played game behind Kyle Rosenberg‘s 10 strikeout, 6.1 IP outing and some clutch-hitting by a player in his first varsity game.
Rosenberg has been Wheatley’s ace for the past 1+ seasons but he was facing a tough opponent, New Haven-commit Michael Gatti, who entered the game with a 2-0 record, 0.00 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 10 innings.
The Wildcats of Wheatley got out to a quick 1-0 lead thanks to some good fortune. After Gatti struck out leadoff batter Dylan Rosenberg, a dropped third strike and errant throw allowed him to make it to second base safely. A sacrifice bunt by Will Karikas sent him over to third and he came around to score on a sac fly by Bryan McCleary.
Oyster Bay has a high-octane offense led by Gatti and Co., but they struggled for much of this game. Rosenberg relied mainly on his deception, command and 62-MPH breaking ball to keep the opposing batters off balance. He eluded damage in the first inning when Steve Siracusa singled, was balked over to second, Gatti walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch to get into scoring position but Rosenberg struck out Jonathan Goldschmitt and Brandon O’Brien in succession.
Gatti escaped some trouble in the second as well. A single by Angelo Marchione, a stolen base and a walk to Danny Gillette put runners on the corners but Gatti struck out Kevin Barrett and Gabe Fallarino to end the inning.
Both pitchers were effective for much of the game and settled into a rhythm.
The next trouble for him came in the fourth inning when Costa Koutsoftas walked and an errant throw by Gatti on a bunt attempt put runners on the corners. Gillette, playing in his first varsity game, ripped a single up the middle and the ball eluded the center fielder allowing two runs to score and make it 3-0.
Rosenberg went 1-2-3 in the next two innings to keep the score 3-0, but the Baymen finally got to him in the sixth. After the first batter was retired on a comebacker, he hit Siracusa with a pitch. The next batter, Michael Gatti, singled to left and he walked Goldschmitt to load the bases. He recorded his 9th strikeout of the game on the next batter to get on the verge of escaping yet again unscathed, but Tommy Rizzuto came through with a two-run single to make it 3-2 and send his team into a frenzy. He retired the next batter to maintain the slimmest of leads.
Tommy Rizzuto gets Oyster Bay within one with a 2-R single to center.
End of 6: Wheatley 3, Oyster Bay 2 pic.twitter.com/3mi0oTmkaZ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 11, 2022
In the top of the 7th, Goldschmitt came on in relief of Gatti who struck out 13 batters over his 6 innings of work, and he retired the side in order.
In the home half of the seventh, Rosenberg went back out and struck out the leadoff batter, before allowing a single to Colin Rainey to breathe some life into Oyster Bay. He was removed after a walk to Gianni Rizzuto and gave way to Connor Quinn. The sophomore promptly struck out Siracusa and induced a ground out to shortstop Dylan Rosenberg to end the game. It ranged far to his right and fired to third for the force out. Had there been no play at third, it’s hard to imagine Gatti would’ve been thrown out at first.
It was an exciting game between two undefeated teams very familiar with one another. Wheatley improves to 7-0 on the season. The two teams will square off again today.
