by Andrew Barbieri
FINAL: Owls Baseball Club- Kneisel 6, Long Island Crew 4.
Long Island Crew had the tying run at 2nd in the 9th, but Luca Centauro closed it out on the mound for the Owls. @liboysofsummer pic.twitter.com/RVwlOwFZGB— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 8, 2023
In an unconventional 9 inning 16u Boys of Summer Matchup, Owls Baseball Club produced at the plate early, and got great work from the duo of Alex Ciampi and Luca Centauro on the mound to secure a 6-4 victory over Long Island Crew at East Islip High School.
Long Island Crew would threaten to start the game by getting 2 men on with 2 out. Ciampi, who started the game, picked up 1 of his 2 strikeouts to get through his first inning of work. The Owls came to the plate and immediately were off and running. The leadoff hitter Gavin Veltman reached on an infield single, Ciampi bunted for a base hit, and Veltman would steal third during Brady Kneisel’s at bat to set him up with runners on the corners. Ciampi then tried to swipe second, but Kneisel hit a ball to a vacated hole on the right side that Ciampi created due to the second baseman AJ Giel having to cover the bag. This caused everyone to be safe, also making it 1-0 Owls. They were not done either in the inning with heads up base running as Ciampi got caught up in-between third and home after John Talt hit a grounder right back to the pitcher Jameson Riegel. Ciampi faked one way, and then darted for home and Riegel threw to third which allowed Ciampi to score to make it 2-0. Centauro came up and hit a liner inside the third base bag that scored 2 and gave Centauro a double. Centauro advanced during Armani Smith’s at bat, Smith then hit a sacrifice fly to cap off a 5 run 1st inning that would help propel the Owls the rest of the way.
Still 6-1 as Owls starter Alex Ciampi has pitched 5 strong innings. pic.twitter.com/83DEO07JIJ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 8, 2023
Long Island Cre would get on the board in the 2nd from a Brady Leichtman triple into right centerfield that scored Matt Collins all the way from first base. The Owls would also tack on a run in the 2nd on an error to make it 6-1.
Ciampi finished his outing after the 5th, going 5 innings, giving up 1 run, and having 2 strikeouts. The wind blowing in gave a major disadvantage to hitters throughout the game and played right into Ciampi’s style of pitching to contact. Centauro entered in the 6th and AJ Giel would cut the deficit to 4 with an RBI single to center for the Crew. For the Crew, they would get strong relief appearances from Aiden Reilly, Liam Murphy, Matt Collins, Paul Cucuzzo, and Kyle Winter to give them a chance to comeback as the game went on.
Luca Centauro and Alex Ciampi are the Muddy Locker Players of the Game. pic.twitter.com/F6scD7LWM9
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 8, 2023
In the 7th Kyle Cahill brought in Cucuzzo with a triple that got past a diving Talt in right field to make it 6-3. Then in the 9th with 2 outs, Chris Thomas was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 6-4 with the tying run on second base. However, Ryan Rosado hit a slow roller that Centauro came off the mound to field and fire to first to end the game.
Owls Baseball Club- Kneisel with the win, now sit at 9-5-3. Long Island Crew falls to 3-7-2.
