by Chris Prystupa
Aiden Fonsetto pitched his heart out in his teams 1-0 win over the LI Dolphins in the District 34 Gold Championship. He spoke with us about his outing and the nerves he overcame as well as his teams grit pulling out a very close game pic.twitter.com/wvKw6TIDoZ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 6, 2022
The West Warriors held on to their 1-0 lead to win the District 34 Gold Championship over the LI Dolphins. The Warriors, much like the Dolphins, navigated in and out of jams behind a strong start from Aiden Fonsetto. Fonsetto was the winning pitcher, going six shutout innings and striking out twelve in the process.
In the top of the first inning, the West Warriors appeared to jump out of the gate and threaten to score. They managed to put together a couple of walks and a fielder’s choice that moved runners to second and third. Dolphins’ starter Bryce Brigati would bend but not break, getting a strikeout to end the inning and escape the jam. Aiden Fonsetta responded in the bottom half of the inning striking out the side.
In the second inning, the Warriors were in a strong position to do some damage as they managed to load the bases on Brigati. Despite having the bases full, Brigati and the Dolphins pulled out another scoreless inning escaping back-back jams. In the bottom half of the second, the Dolphins started the inning off with a pair of singles in which both runners advanced on an errant throw. With both runners advancing to second and third it was a crucial moment for Fonsetto and the Warriors. Fonsetto buckled down and stranded both runners, picking up another three strikeouts in the process.
The West Warriors hold on to win this one over the LI Dolphins 1-0 and they are your District 34 Gold Champs! pic.twitter.com/YYAHcr2hgT
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 6, 2022
The third inning would be the difference maker in this game as the Warriors picked up the only run of the game. After back-to-back walks, Ryan Matejka dropped in a fly ball down the left field line for an RBI single to give the Warriors 1-0 lead that would stand as the only run to be batted in for the rest of the game.
The rest of the game would be dominated by excellent pitching from Aiden Fonsetto as he would throw another three scoreless innings before turning it over to Jude Colon in the seventh. The Warriors also made some nice plays including a couple of line drive catches and a dead sprint by Colon to catch a foul pop up. Jude Colon would strike out the final hitter of the game to earn the save and the victory crowning the West Warriors as District 34 Gold Champions.
