by Chris Donnelly
Postgame interview of Sam McManus and Coach Chuck on their 7-3 semi final victory over the South Shore Chiefs in the Memorial Weekend Championship pic.twitter.com/uor0staGVK
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 29, 2023
The Merrick Mayhem took on the South Shore Chiefs in the semi finals of the Memorial Weekend Championship 10u division held at Lasorda Legacy Park. The game did not disappoint as the two teams came out swinging both putting up runs early to make the game seem like it would be a high scoring game.
The starting pitcher for the Mayhem, Sam McManus, worked through some trouble in the 1st surrendering 1, but the Mayhem offense did not disappoint in the bottom half. After the leadoff batter, Angel Thompkins, was hit by a pitch, he did some damage of his own stealing 2nd and 3rd scoring on a past ball. In similar fashion Brody Greene and Riley Hohlman took advantage of their speed and were able to score on heads up base running. The Mayhem offense kept it up in the 2nd putting up 3 more thanks to some timely hitting including a 2 RBI 2 out single by CJ Amato and great base running making the score 7-1 after 2 innings.
The starting pitcher for the Chiefs, Jack Whiston, took the mound in the bottom of the first and struggled to find the zone but was able to anchor down and keep his team in the game. The Chiefs started to fight back, scoring 1 in the 3rd inning. Jake Salgine came in relief in the 3rd inning for the Chiefs and was lights out striking out 5 and not allowing a hit. Although it was clear the Chiefs didn’t have an answer for the Mayhem base runners as they ran wild stealing 20 bases.
FINAL 7-3: Mayhem over the Chiefs
WP:Sam McManus
Post game interview coming up pic.twitter.com/2AF2zwaOOc— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 29, 2023
Sam McManus was efficient today as he went for the complete game striking out 5, as he did a great job of keeping runners in check and settling down to limit the damage keeping the Mayhem in the lead for almost the whole game.
The Chiefs attempted to mount a last inning comeback after a leadoff single led to an RBI single making the score 7-3 but Sam McManus dug deep and was able to battle and get out of it only allowing the 1 run to score by inducing the final out, a pop fly caught by the second baseman to send the Merrick Mayhem to the championship game of the Memorial Weekend Championship.
