by John Sullivan
Top 6: Evan Picciano smokes a 2 rbi double to the right center field gap to give LI Strong a 3-1 lead pic.twitter.com/xMM7zxKwHY
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2023
The 13u Memorial Day Clash matchup between the Batting 1.000 Seminoles and the Long Island Strong was one that featured two very strong starting pitchers that attacked hitters with strikes. For the Seminoles, hard throwing right-hander Matteo Fiore toed the rubber, while crafty lefty Logan McKee got the nod for the Strong.
Early on it was easy to see the high level of talent and poise on the mound these two pitchers have. Matteo Fiore was blowing his fastball by hitters, which allowed him to cruise to two shutout innings to start his day. His counterpart Logan McKee was mixing his pitches more and painting corners. This allowed McKee to garner three strikeouts and allow no runs in his first two innings of work.
The top of the third was more of the same as Fiore had a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. But, in the bottom of the third the Seminoles woke the bats up. Matteo Fiore helped himself with a one out single and he was later driven in by a clutch two out double in the left center field gap from James Lonhitano to give the Seminoles a 1-0 lead. This lead didn’t last long though, as the Strong responded with a run of their own in the top of the fourth. After Matteo Fiore got an easy first two outs, Evan Picciano worked a walk, stole second and came around to score on Trevor Moczulski’s line drive single into center field.
Logan McKee continued to be efficient in the fourth with a scoreless inning on just a single allowed. McKee carried his success on the mound to the plate as he singled and stole second to lead off the fifth. With a man on second and no outs, Matteo Fiore was in a pressure filled situation in a tie game. But, Fiore was able to punch out the next two batters he faced and then induced a groundout to second to escape the jam. Unfortunately for him, Logan McKee responded with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the fifth to keep things locked at 1 a piece.
Postgame interview with Logan McKee of Long Island Strong who just had a phenomenal 3 hit complete game in a 3-1 victory over the B1000 Seminoles pic.twitter.com/psNYAtBadm
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2023
In the sixth, the Strong offense seemed poised to take the lead. They got off to a good start with a double from James Schofield and a walk from Jake Gruter. This was enough to knock Fiore out of the game and bring on Ediran Tavarez with two runners on with one out. Unfortunately for Tavarez, the first batter he had to face was Evan Picciano, who had been seeing the ball well all game. Evan jumped on the first pitch he saw and smoked a double the other way into the gap to give the Strong a 3-1 lead.
This 3-1 lead would be all the Strong needed, as Logan McKee finished up the last two innings to finish the complete game. Logan’s final stat line was 1 run on 3 hits, 0 walks and 3 strikeouts. After the game, McKee said that his four-seam, two-seam, and curveball were the pitches that allowed him to dominate. He also predicted a championship for his team, saying, “we’re going to win tomorrow, win the semis, and we’re going to win it all.”
