by John Sullivan
Josh zambrano is the muddy locker player of the game. He had a 2 RBI single as well as a scoreless inning on the mound pic.twitter.com/JZCMzefxkp
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 19, 2023
On Wednesday night, CPD Baseball and the B1 Seminoles faced off in a 14u matchup at Holy Trinity High School. From the jump, the game was very competitive and it was clear that both teams brought their ‘A’ game. CPD got things started on offense immediately in the first. After Casey Gates hit a one-out single and advanced to third base on an error, Nicholas Sweeney drove him in with a single up the middle and CPD led 1-0 heading into the bottom half of the inning. In the bottom of the first, Fred Klauck tossed a scoreless inning for CPD, despite giving up a walk and a single.
In the second inning, B1 Seminoles flipped the script. In this inning, the Seminoles put up a scoreless inning on the mound and scored 2 at the plate. After Russel Schwartz’s scoreless inning in the top half of the inning, Micheal Scotto and Matthew Judge both worked walks to get the inning started for B1000. Scotto then later scored when he stole third and advanced home after an errant throw by the catcher. Matthew Judge scored after he stole second, third, and scored on a wild pitch. B1 led 2-1 heading into the third inning.
B1’s lead would not last long though, as CPD put up a huge inning in the top of the third. After Canon Evans and Kelly Hyalnd’s walks to start off the inning, Jayden Haussmann laid down a perfect bunt single that resulted in a run scored after the pitcher threw the ball away. Two batters later, Josh Zambrano came through with a clutch two RBI single into left field to give CPD a 4-2 lead. Luckily for B1000, Schwartz got the next batter to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Following a rough inning in the field for B1000, they showed heart at the plate. Despite hitting into two quick outs to start the bottom of the third, the offense was able to come together and tie the game after Ryan Jacobs crushed a two out double to dead center field to score Cole Zuckerman and Joseph McKilop, who both worked two out walks. This made the score 4-4 heading into the fourth.
Mid 3: Josh Zambrano rips a two RBI single in a three run inning for CPD. They now lead it 4-2 pic.twitter.com/ySOsti87bP
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 19, 2023
In the top of the fourth inning, CPD proved they were determined to have the lead after they responded with two runs of their own. Chris Biondi hit a single to start off the inning, and Fred Klauck smoked a double over the centerfield’s head to score Biondi. Klauck then came around to score on an RBI single from Gavin Burger into right field. In the bottom of the fourth, Biondi posted the first 1-2-3 inning of the game with two strikeouts and a groundout.
After the fourth, both offenses seemed to finally cool off. In the top of the fifth, Matthew Judge put up an easy 1-2-3 inning for B1000 with a groundout and two strikeouts. Then, JJ Walsh was able to work out of a small first and second 1 out jam in the bottom half of the fifth for CPD by inducing two groundouts in a row. Judge responded to this by putting up another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the sixth, this time with three groundouts. In the bottom of the sixth, B1000 threatened after two singles and stolen bases from Joseph Mckilop and Micheal Scotto made it second and third with one out. But, Walsh got the next two batters looking at knee-buckling curve balls to get out of the inning scoreless.
In the seventh inning, Matthew Judge continued to roll on the mound for B1000, as he fired a three strikeout scoreless inning to keep the score at 6-4 going into B1000’s final at bats. Unfortunately for B1000 though, they didn’t put up much of a fight in the bottom of the seventh. Although the lead off batter worked a walk, Jayden Nappi struck out the next batter and got the next two to fly out to end the game and win it 6-4 for CPD. The 6-4 win was an impressive one for CPD, as it was definitely a team win with six different pitchers making an appearance and none of the hitters having a multi-hit game. CPD really showed what it’s like to grind a win out.
