by Chris Prystupa
Ryan Picarello had a bases clearing triple paving the way for the Titans in their championship win. He takes us through his at bat and how it felt and how solid his team and pitching staff has been all summer long @BlueChipCBL pic.twitter.com/OMVh67KqU5
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 2, 2022
The LI Titans put up four runs in the top of the eighth inning en route to their 5-1 championship win over the LI Storm this evening. This championship game was filled with solid baseball by both teams from their offense and defense. It was quite the showdown between Andrew Williams, who started for the LI Storm, and Jack Carr from the Titans. There were multiple 1-2-3 innings thrown by each starter including Carr, who struck out the side in the bottom of the first. With each starter trying to out duel the other, the first four innings of this game came and went in a relatively quick fashion.
In the top of the fifth, the Titans were able to break through against Andrew Williams. The inning started with a single from Jason Campo. Campo was able to advance to third on a double in the gap by Dylan Bruno but fortunately for the Storm he overran second base and was tagged out. Niko Sorice would follow that up and dunk a baseball just beyond the stretch of the infielders for an RBI single putting the Titans in the lead. The Titans followed that up with another single by Josh Indek and a walk by Joseph Pasqua. The table was set for the Titans to break this one open but Andrew Williams had other plans. He then struck out a batter for the second out before getting a soft liner to end the inning and holding the Titans to just one run.
Ryan Picarello laces a bases clearing triple down the right field line to put the Titans up 4-1 in the eighth pic.twitter.com/IiaOJJ2H72
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 2, 2022
On the flip side, Jack Carr was extremely dominant in his start. He was cruising through the first six innings of the ballgame picking up ten strikeouts holding the Storm to just a few hits at that point. He attempted to close out the game in the seventh inning but was met with some resistance. Mike Frazzeta singled to start the inning and was replaced by a pinch runner, giving the Storm a chance with speed on the basepath. Dennis Lynch did his job and moved the runner over to third just 90 feet away from tying this game and sending it to extras. Tory Cooks would capitalize on the opportunity and laced a ball into the gap in right centerfield knotting the game at one. Sean Mileti would come in and shut down the rally right then and there, sending it to extras.
In the top of the eighth, the Titans put together quite the rally to take control of the game with a four-run lead. It started off with Joseph Pasqua taking one for the team as he got hit by a pitch. Then it moved to Derek Torres who smacked a double to give the Titans second and third with nobody out and their three hitter coming up. The Storm then issued an intentional walk to Cody Miller and now the bases were loaded for Ryan Picarello. He worked the count in his favor to 2-0 and got exactly what he was looking for, Picarello lined a bases clearing triple down the right field line to give the Titans not only the lead but some insurance runs as well. Dylan Banner capped off the eighth with an RBI single up the middle bringing home Picarello. Mileti would close out the bottom of the eighth with ease to seal the 2022 Blue Chip Collegiate League Championship victory for the Titans.
