Final: Bayport-Blue Point 3, Miller Place 1
WP: Liam Stemmler (CG, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 Ks)BBP improves to 8-0 on the season, they’ll face Sayville next week pic.twitter.com/1tjYP9nxkE
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 14, 2023
One of the key tenets of Bayport-Blue Point’s 25 consecutive postseason appearances is their ability to grind out at bats, beat high-end pitchers with timely hits and, of course, outstanding pitching.
Their starting pitching has been lights-out this year and they are now 8-0 on the season and on the verge of another postseason berth after their 3-1 victory over Miller Place. Today’s starting pitcher, FDU-Florham commit Liam Stemmler was efficient and effective. He out dueled sophomore LHP Nick Frusco, who was overpowering at times but made just a couple mistakes that BBP was able to capitalize on.
Speaking after the game, Stemmler said that it was a big advantage watching the hitters in last year’s two playoff games and also the first two games of this series – as fellow senior RHP Brady Clark provided him some insight as well.
Each team went down scoreless in the first inning, but the Phantoms got on the board in the second inning.
As is often the case, the rally got started on a leadoff walk by Stemmler. After a strikeout, Tyler McKillop turned on one and ripped it just inside the third base line for a double to put two runners in scoring position. The Phantoms are very effective at situational hitting and they cashed in with a two-run single by Logan Curran up the middle with the infield drawn in. Had the infield been back, perhaps there’s a chance the play gets made but it was a 2-0 game nevertheless.
Frusco was able to escape the jam and in fact he showed flashes of dominance. Despite the crooked number in the second inning, he struck out three batters in the inning. He struck out two batters in the third inning, one in the fourth inning and one in the fifth to bring his total to 10.
Meanwhile, Stemmler was cruising. He worked a 1-2-3 first inning, allowed a single to Bobby O’Brien in the second inning, allowed one walk in the their inning, before running into a bit of trouble in the fourth inning. After retiring the first batter, he allowed a single to Joey Citrangola and walked O’Brien to put a runner into scoring position. He was able to keep his composure and he escaped the jam with a strikeout of Dom Cassino.
In the top of the fifth, BBP added a bit of insurance. Ryan Costa singled and advanced to second on a balk. Quinn Hill was retired on batter’s interference. Guy Kiesel hit a grounder to first and Frusco was a little late to cover the bag and the throw was behind him allowing the runner to score and make it 3-0. The run provided just enough breathing room for Stemmler.
In the home half off the fifth, he struck out the first batter before briefly appearing to give up a single. The umpires convened and it was overruled by the home plate umpire for the second out of the inning. The next batter hit a comebacker that Stemmler was easily able to convert into an out.
Citrangola took the mound in the sixth, he allowed a walk to Curran and a single but he ended the inning on a grounder to shortstop.
Stemmler had a 1-2-3 sixth inning with two strikeouts, including Alex Strickland being ejected from the game on a seemingly innocuous tossing of the bat in the dugout which makes him ineligible for the next game.
Bottom 7: Miller Place gets on the board on a sac fly they trail 3-1 pic.twitter.com/6tqSVaEoqq
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 14, 2023
In the bottom of the seventh, Miller Place was able to get on the board on a sac fly, but Stemmer was able to bear down and retire the last batter of the game to secure the 3-1 victory. It improved BBP’s record to 8-0 and they will have another big test next week against a strong Sayville team.
If you’re wondering, it is not the latest into a season that BBP was undefeated as they ran the table in 2013 going 27-0 winning the first of back-to-back NYS Class A Titles.
