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GAME RECAP: Kieran Kehoe, Mepham Win 8-7 Thriller, Stay Undefeated

You couldn’t have asked for a better game of baseball between two league rivals – one of which is pursuing an undefeated season. MacArthur and host Mepham squared off on Tuesday late afternoon, and by the time it was over, it was nearly dark but there was not one person in attendance that was not on the edge of their seat for the last two innings of the game.

Even the last out of the game was recorded on a dropped third strike that required a long throw and close play at first base – but once it hit the glove of Kieran Kehoe, Mepham was able to exhale and rejoice as their undefeated streak stretched to 12 games to begin the 2023 season.

The game began with Kyle Knowles firing a scoreless top of the first inning for Mepham, working around a one-out walk issued to Evan Paladino.

In the bottom of the first, MacArthur starter Chase Palma struggled with his command, walking the first two batters and hitting the third batter to loaded the bases with nobody out for Kehoe (more on him later), who popped out to third base. The next batter, J.D. Decina ripped an RBI single to give Mepham a 1-0 lead. Palma escaped further damage with a 6-6-3 DP to end the inning. MacArthur was fortunate to escape with just the one run allowed.

In the top of the second, Knowles struck out the first batter, but walked his counterpart, Chase Palma, before sophomore third baseman Dylan Tripi (3-for-4, 5 RBIs) ripped a two-run shot to left field to give MacArthur a 2-1 lead. Tripi had a huge game on both sides of the ball for the Generals.

John Dinkelman singled to right field and that brought up Adelphi-commit James Eden, who has been one of the best players in Nassau County the past two seasons and entered with a .515 AVG. He just missed a 2-R homer, but was also robbed of a HR as the CF, Michael Cucinella, made an incredible effort but it fell out of his glove, allowing Dinkelman to score and Eden to reach second base with an RBI double. Knowles stranded him at second with a ground out to shortstop to end the inning.

Just one inning later, Dylan Tripi was back at it extending the lead to 4-1 as he ripped an RBI single to right field to score Thatcher, who drew a two-out walk. At that point, while the game was not out of reach, Mepham had to be feeling a little bit of pressure with their undefeated streak on the line against a terrific team like MacArthur that is known for their run prevention.

Mepham was able to chip away in the third inning. Bryce Bowers drew a leadoff off and that was it for Palma, who gave way to a reliever. Steven Mulqueen greeted him with a ground-rule double to put two runners in scoring position for Kieran Kehoe who came through with a two-run single to left to make it 4-3 and make the deficit that much more feasible. They were unable to cash in after a great diving play in right field and two ground outs ended the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Knowles retired the first two batters, before Paladino singled past the shortstop to keep the inning alive. He then stole second and scored on an RBI single to center by Ryan Tam, another player who batted .500 for MacArthur last season. That extended the lead to 5-3.

In the bottom of the fourth, STAC-commit Nick Walker led off with a well-struck double to left field but the next three batters were retired in order to strand him in scoring position.

Mepham threatened again in the home half of the fifth, when Kehoe led off with a single to left field and advanced to third on a single by Trey O’Neill. With runners on the corner and one out, it seemed inevitable they would cash in, but a strikeout brought up Sean Seligman who hit one down the third base line that was snagged by Tripi, and then he stumbled and got up to his feet and fired a strike across the diamond to end the jam and put MacArthur six outs away from victory.

Charlie Leo entered and did a great job in relief for Mepham. He fired a scoreless inning, issuing a two-out walk to James Eden but avoiding any damage with a strikeout to end the inning.

The action occurred in the bottom of the sixth. After Nick Walker struck out for the first out, Michael Cucinella reached in the most painful way possible as he took one off the upper back/neck area and went down to the ground in pain. After a few moments, he hopped up and took his base, and even advanced to second on a wild pitch during Bryce Bowers’ at bat. Bowers eventually drew a walk against Will Irwin to bring up Steve Mulqueen, who also walked. You just got the sense that the game would come down to the hot-hitting Kieran Kehoe – which is exactly what happened.

MacArthur countered by bringing in CF James Eden – who is not a pitcher, hoping to get him off balance with a breaking ball. Kieran came through with a hard-hit 2-run single to tie the game and send his fans into a frenzy. They were not done, though, as Decina followed with a single to right field that scored both Mulqueen and Kehoe to make it a 7-5 lead in favor of Mepham. He advanced to second on the throw to the plate. They also added another run when Decina stole third and the errant throw allowed him to score. After TJ Coyne walked, the inning finally came to a close when Sean Seligman grounded out and Cucinella struck out to end it.

Fortunately for Mepham, they needed all of those runs as MacArthur would not go down quietly. A leadoff walk issued to Ryan Tam and a double by Joe Thatcher brought up Dylan Tripi, who came through again with a two-run single to make it 8-7. Finally, the game would end on a strikeout of the pinch hitter.

With the win, Mepham improved to 12-0 on the season while MacArthur fell to 9-3. It was simply an outstanding game of baseball. These teams will finish off their 3-game series tomorrow at MacArthur.

 

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Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres

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