Tommy Bressmer was named League MVP and he had 2 hits in today’s victory for Long Island Lutheran @GCsports pic.twitter.com/4zqTJ9x5qx
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2023
On an absolutely beautiful May afternoon, Long Island Lutheran hosted Portledge in a rematch of last year’s PSAA Championship. Much like the weather, it was a perfect first inning for the Crusaders, who batted around, scored 9 runs with the exclamation point coming on a two-run triple by Marcus Harrison to break the game completely open and LuHi never looked back.
Long Island Lutheran took advantage of several miscues and walks by Portledge in the first inning and forced a pitching change after the 9th batter of the inning. They didn’t stop there, as the Crusaders sent four more batters to the plate before the inning would finally come to an end.
Marcus Harrison was the starting pitcher for LuHi, he struggled in the second inning, as Portledge was able to get two runs on the board thanks to five walks but he struck out Capps to end the inning and get his team back in the dugout.
Portledge reliever Christian Sabatino did a commendable job to steady the ship in the second and third innings, as he fired two shutout innings against the potent LuHi lineup. It’s tough to keep them down for long, though, as he wound up running into significant trouble in the fourth inning which started with a single by Marcus Harrison and double by Matt Garib. Emon Fortune‘s two-run single made it 12-4 an they added two more.
To their credit, Portledge was able to put two more runs on the board in the top of the fifth inning thanks to an RBI double by Dan Shalam and Jameson Wu but the run-rule ended the game after the third out was recorded on a unique play in which the wild pitch bounced directly back to the pitcher who fired it to Tommy Bressmer behind the dish just in time to nab the runner.
With the victory, LuHi has captured their third consecutive PSAA Championship under head coach Shaun Manning, and they will look to win the State Championship, but they will have a tough journey. Last year, they defeated Collegiate before losing 10-0 to Stony Brook Prep in the NYSAIS Quarterfinals.
