by Gabe Zoda
Spoke with Coach TJ and Miles Kalisiewicz after their win over the South Shore Sharks.
Miles Finished the game 2-3 with 2RBI Singles. He also pitched a scoreless inning in the game. pic.twitter.com/nArgudX5bt
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 8, 2023
Easter weekend saw the South Shore Sharks and Team Beast split a double header at Wantagh park. The first game was well contested the entire way through and saw South Shore win by a 3-2 final score. The second game could not have been any more different as Beast took the early lead and never looked back as they took that game by a final score of 12-3.
In the first game, both teams were in a deadlock for the first 3 innings. The pitching for both sides were lights out. On the side of the Sharks, Mason Montanez pitched 5 innings of shutout baseball. He added 8 strikeouts and only walked one batter on the mound as well.
Beast had Max Denino, who was pitching toe-to-toe with Montanez to start off. His game plan was completely different, where Montanez was collecting strikeouts, Denino was more than willing to let the Sharks make contact and allow his fielders to make the play. He threw 3 scoreless innings.
This strategy would bite Beast in the 4th inning when South Shore would strike first. It started off with Kevin Daly, who crushed a leadoff triple. From there, the stage was set for Michel Santopietro. He would knock in Daly with a really well placed grounder to the right side. That would be the only run South Shore scored in the inning, but it gave them the lead and now allowed them to tack on runs later in the game.
The 5th inning would be more of the same from South Shore as they would add one run of insurance. This inning, much like last inning, started with a leadoff knock. Luke Bischott got on base with a leadoff single. He then stole 2nd and used a wild pitch to his advantage and landed on 3rd base. Kayden Dagonese then belted a ball right at the second baseman, but it was too hot to handle and Bischott was able to come home safely to make it a 2-0 ballgame over Beast.
South Shore wasn’t happy with a 2-run lead and knew they needed to keep applying the pressure. This lead to them adding just a little more insurance in the top of the 6th. South Shore started their 3rd inning in a row with a leadoff knock. This time it was Sutter Yankowich hit a single. He then stole a couple of bags and ended up on 3rd base. Back at the plate was Ryan Kesemett, who waited for Yankowich to get into position to try and get him in. He then layed down a perfect sac bunt that allowed Yankowich to score to give the South Shore Sharks a 3-0 lead through 5 and a half.
In the Top of the 5th, the Sharks tack on one more on this hit by Kayden Daganese. Now 2-0 Sharks over Beast headed to the bottom of the 5th. pic.twitter.com/mNoelUQCwb
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 8, 2023
In the bottom half, Beast tried and almost did come back by adding 2 runs. The first one came off of the bat of Jason Schulz, who launched a triple and scored Cayden Hereth who reached on a single of his own.
John Danisi would drive in the 2nd run of the inning on a sac fly, allowing Schulz to come in to score.
After those runs came in, South Shore was able to close the door and take the 3-2 victory in the first of the two games.
FINAL:
South Shore Sharks: 3
Beast: 2
WP: Mason Montanez (8Ks, 1BB, 1ER) pic.twitter.com/pe4PaygKmy
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 8, 2023
Game 2
The second game was completely different.
This barrage started in the 2nd inning, where Beast would score 4 runs. This inning had four players work walks (Jason Schulz, Cole Palmieri, John Danisi and Cayden Hereth). Three of those players would come in through great base running, taking advantage of passed balls and wild pitches. The fourth run came by the hands of Anthony Campagnone, who sharply hit a grounder towards the right side of the infield.
The 3rd inning was more of the same for Beast. They would tack on 4 more runs and ended the inning with a score of 8-0. Jason Schulz got the scoring going in the 3rd by hitting an RBI triple. Palmieri then followed hin up with an RBI single. Palmieri would then come around to score on a passed ball. The final run of the inning came by the hands of Miles Kalsisiewicz who hit an RBI single.
The South Shore Sharks weren’t going to just give up though. They didn’t allow the scoreboard to get to their heads and made it a mission to try to get back into this game. The 4th inning saw them put up 3 runs to make it 8-3. The Sharks started the 4th with back to back to back singles from Michel Santopietro, Sutter Yankowich and Tyler Scheurer. Scheurer’s single would break the scoring drought and give the Sharks their first run of the day. Later on in the inning, an E-3 allowed both Yankowich and Scheurer to score to make it a 8-3 ballgame.
GAME 2 FINAL:
Beast: 12
South Shore Sharks: 3 pic.twitter.com/Z8RXdtrXwN
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 8, 2023
Beast noticed the Sharks were starting to build a little bit of momentum so they came right back in the 5th and 6th and tacked on 4 more runs to put the game out of reach.
The 5th inning saw Beast add 3 more runs. Player of the game, Miles Kalisiewicz, drove in his 2nd RBI in the 5th inning. Followed by Max Denino and RJ Merkle would also had RBI singles.
Lastly, Beast would take advantage of an error to score their 12th run. Cayden Hereth came into the game in the bottom of the 6th and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to seal the split double header against the South Shore Sharks.
