Share This Post

Archive / Game Recaps / NEWS

GAME RECAP: B1 Seminoles Pascucci and Titans Greif Split Double Header

by Gabe Zoda

The B1 Seminoles Pascucci and the Titans Greif split a double header on Saturday night in a 14u LI Boys of Summer fall ball matchup. It was the Seminoles who came out on top, 8-7, in the first game and then the Titans earned the split in the second with a final score of 6-2. 

Game 1 was full of fireworks from front to end and all the action started right off of the gate with a 4-run first inning from the Titans. Andrew Lamarca and PJ Tabianosa led off the game with a double and single respectively to put the Titans in scoring position early. This allowed Ryan Napolitano to come up to the plate and launch a high flyout to center field to plate the game’s first run on a Sacrifice Fly. 

Jason Angelo kept the early rally alive with a single and Chris Cuiffo would plate Tabianosa and Angelo with a 2-run double to the left centerfield gap. Jake Burztyne would complete the 4-run first by driving in Cuiffo on a hard grounder to the left side. 

Titans weren’t done there, they continued this early onslaught in the next 2 innings where they would score two runs in the second off of back to back RBI singles by Jason Angelo and Chris Cuiffo. 

Titans Baseball tacked on one more run after Jake Burnztyne scored on a dropped 3rd strike throwing error. After two and a half innings, it was all Titans as they held onto a now 7-0 advantage but the B1 Seminoles were not ready to roll over to the second game yet. Parents and players were still in high spirits that a comeback would be possible, but it needed to start in the bottom of the third. 

Teo Fiore kicked it off in the bottom of the third with a single to get the movement of the bases started. He went from first to third on a Caden Lang single through the 3-4 hole and then would come in to score the first Seminoles’ run on a AJ Calapi sac fly. Matt Amy would follow up this effort with a 3B of his own to plate Lang and make it a 7-2 ballgame. They added 2 more runs in the inning off of a Jackson Bianchi 2 run single that sparked a new belief that this game wasn’t over just yet. 

The 4th inning saw neither team score so it was down to the 5th, which served as the final inning due to time restrictions. Titans didn’t score in the top half of the inning and it came down to the Seminoles to either come out victorious or in defeat in game 1. 

Caden Lang threw the first punch to leadoff the inning with a 3B to right center. Amy would cash in his second RBI of the game on an RBI single making it 7-5. Vance Kane came up right after and put two runners in scoring position after his one out double. Chris Nunez kept the rally going with an RBI single, moving Kane to third and making it a one run game. Jackson Bianchi would tie the game with a bloop single right over the heads of the middle infielders. 

Runner on third base, two outs with a tie game in the last licks period of the game. A scenario that kids dream of just became a reality for Gio Daniele as he stepped up to the plate. All of his teammates perched up on the gate in their home dugout, begging Daniele to just relax and breathe (probably projecting more to themselves than the batter). Daniele swung and missed on two pitches, making it a 2 strike count. He got a pitch to hit, he swung and punched it hard and high into the night sky. The ball dropped right in front of the centerfielder and the winning run scored to solidify the walk off win in game 1. 

After a 20 minute break in between games, Titans baseball went into game 2 with a mindset to not let the game get away from them again. 

This game was much closer throughout between the two teams as both starting pitchers, AJ Calapi (B1 Seminoles) and Jason Angelo (Titans) were among the top arms that these teams had to offer. 

Titans would get on the board first again after a 2- run bottom of the second inning that saw Andrew Kequeny and Sal Romano both drive in back to back one RBIs. B1 Seminoles were quick to respond this time with a 2-run top of the third. B1 Seminoles loaded up the bases after a single from Niko Tsiakos followed by walks from both Teo Fiore and Caden Lang. Matt Amy knocked in the first run with a weak fly ball into shallow right. Chris Nunez came up later in the inning and slapped a single right back up the middle for the game tying RBI. 

Sensing the same situation resurfacing in the second game, the Titans knew they needed to punch back one more time and keep the lead. This would take until the fifth inning where the game was still knotted up at two apiece. 

In the top half of the fifth, the Seminoles got bases loaded with no outs. Ethan Williams was then called upon to close out the game for the Titans on the mound. An impossible task to ask for a pitcher to stop any runs from scoring in this situation but that’s exactly what Williams did. Williams first induced a pop fly right on the first base line that he was able to grab himself and then got the next batter to fly out to center field, where Sal Romano caught the ball and threw a laser to home plate to catch the tagging runner out and end the inning. 

The Titans built off that momentum in the bottom half of the inning where they immediately loaded the bases themselves with no outs from 3 consecutive singles from Sal Romano, Andrew Lamarca and PJ Tabianosa. Unlike the Seminoles just one half inning ago, the Titans would capitalize on this situation when Ryan Napolitano drilled a ball to the right centerfield gap, clearing the bases for a 3-run triple to give the Titans a 5-2 lead. Napolitano would then come in to score on a wild pitch and after 5 innings, the Titans lead 6-2. 

Ethan Williams then shut the door in the top of the 6th with 2 K’s and the Titans would secure the split. 

 

Share This Post

Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres

Related Articles

Lost Password

Register