A stunning comeback by Babylon as they overcame a 5-2 deficit in the Class B Long Island Championship with the winning run coming in on a walk-off walk
Babylon 6, Seaford 5 pic.twitter.com/dN02nDZ6RG
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2023
In a season of magic for Babylon, it makes sense that something so improbable would happen in the Class B Championship. Two teams with just 1 loss on the season squared off at St. Joseph’s University, and there was a number of twists & turns in this one.
Ultimately, the Babylon Panthers trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the 9th, and were also down to their last strike trailing 5-3 with Daniel Madsen, whose been at the center of all their magic this season. Madsen lined an 0-2 pitch to center field against Adelphi-commit Billy Kind, who came on in relief with 1 out in the 9th inning and the bases loaded. Madsen’s hit tied the game at 5-5, and the following hitter, Nicholas Crone, walked on four pitches to deliver Babylon the Class B Long Island Championship, 6-5.
In the top of the first, Daniel Madsen (11-0) retired the first two batters before allowing a single to Sean Costello. The next batter, Nick Apollo, drove him in with an RBI double to center field to make it 1-0 in favor of Seaford. Jason Berthel followed with an RBI single to score Apollo and make it 2-0.
This was a familiar spot for Seaford, who entered with one loss and have led in virtually every single game this year. Babylon, has been more familiar with coming back, most notably in their walk-off win to capture the County Championship over Center Moriches. So, the game was far from over.
Sean Costello, who was named Conference A-4 Pitcher of the Year in 2022, had another terrific season for the Vikings. He got off to a shaky start, though, as he hit DiPalma and allowed a single to John Harkins. DiPalma moved to third and Harkins moved to second n the throw. Mattingly Goldstein grounded into a fielder’s choice with the runner being tagged out at home. Daniel Madsen came up clutch as he has done all season, driving an RBI single to score Harkins and make it 2-1.
Fast forward to the bottom of the third and Cristino Tufano drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on an E1. Tufano came around to score on an RBI single by John Harkins to tie the game at 2-2. Goldstein drew a walk but Madsen flew out to right and Aidan Kistner struck out to end the inning.
End of 3: Babylon ties it up on an RBI single by John Harkins. Costello escapes further damage with a strikeout
Seaford 2, Babylon 2 pic.twitter.com/RoOtNVIZAe
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2023
Now the score would stay like that for several innings. Madsen settled in and fired zeros from the second inning through eighth innings. Costello came out after 4.0 innings in favor of Nick Apollo – who fired a 1-2-3 fifth inning.
Babylon had a golden chance to score in the bottom of the sixth when Madsen led off with a single. After a strikeouts of Kistner and Crone, Apollo walked two batters to bring up leadoff batter Cristino Tufano, who popped out to second to end the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Billy Kind led off and hit a routine fly ball to right field that was simply dropped, allowing him to get to second with 0 out. Stephen Ierides came up and was hit by a pitch on a full count. With the middle of the order coming up, things looked promising for Seaford. But Madsen just bears down in those situations time and time again. He wound up getting three infield pop outs in a row to end the inning and keep Seaford off the board.
Apollo set down Babylon in order in the 7th to force extra innings and Madsen fired another scoreless inning in the eighth – working around a hit by Chris Viggiano to get Babylon back in the dugout.
In the bottom of the eighth, Madsen once again led off with a hit, but a strikeout and a double play ended the jam.
That brings us to the ninth inning where the bulk of the action occurred in the game.
Billy Kind stepped to the plate with Madsen at 122 pitches, knowing the state-imposed limit was just 3 away. On the second pitch of the at bat, he ripped an opposite field triple to get himself 90 feet away.
Top 9: Sean Costello hits a sac fly to score Billy Kind and a Seaford takes a 3-2 lead pic.twitter.com/0MnPHNw2sa
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2023
Babylon made a pitching change – calling on right fielder Aidan Kistner to come in relief. Since he was already in the field, he hadn’t warmed up so he used his 8 pitches to get loose. Command proved to be an issue as he walked Stephen Ierides on four pitches and TJ Harrington as well to load the bases. Sean Costello hit a sac fly to right to score Kind and give Seaford a 3-2 lead. Ierides also advances to third and Harrington to second. This was the type of play that they desperately needed at the time. They also added two more runs on a wild pitch and an errant throw on a pickoff play at third. At that point, even the most loyal Babylon fan had to be concerned.
Bottom 9. Three outs away from punching their ticket.
Billy Kind, who threw a perfect game and a no-hitter is available to pitch. It seemed like a perfect time to bring him in for the save in a clean out. They opted to keep in Apollo who retired the first batter. Everything appeared fine.
The next batter hits a dribbler and it was going to be a tough play regardless, but Jason Berthel made the decision to throw the ball and it got away into the Babylon dugout, allowing Schmidt to advance to second. The next batter, Cristino Tufano, drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. DiPalma was hit the pitch to load the bases, and coach Milano opted to go to Kind – who walked in a run to make it 5-3. Bases still loaded, Mattingly Goldstein coming up. On a 3-1 pitch, Kind threw a high pitch that would’ve been ball 4 but Goldstein swung and popped out for the second out of the inning.
Just like in the Massapequa game the day before, it looked like the game was over. Finito.
Not so fast, my friend.
Madsen, who was described to me as Babylon’s clutchest hitter all season, stepped to the plate and immediately went down 0-2. In that scenario with the pitcher in control, you rarely see the batter come through with a hit or even draw a walk. Madsen, who already had three hits on the day and wasn’t about to have his high school career end, hit a soft liner to center that fell in front of the center fielder and with two outs, both runners were easily scoring to tie the game. It was an incredibly impressive piece of hitting against a pitcher that had proved to be almost untouchable this season.
Whether he was shaken or not, Kind struggled to find the plate to the next two batters – walking Aidan Kistner and Nicholas Crone on 8 straight pitches to end the game and send Babylon’s team, coaching staff, players and entire student section into a state of euphoria.
Final: Babylon 6, Seaford 5
