Impressive first inning from 14-year-old Emmett Gleeson who was 74-78 MPH with 2 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/g93zgjElJ1
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 11, 2023
Offense was at a premium in this championship game, with a combined total of 7 hits between the two teams. The Bonnie Bulls used a four-run second inning to break the game open and build a comfortable 6-0 cushion. It proved to be more than enough to capture the 14u National Championship against B1000 Seminoles Tracey.
The Bulls send hard-throwing southpaw Emmett Gleeson to the mound, and he was dominant. The lefty went five shutout innings, striking out 10 batters, allowing just two hits and two walks. His fastball was 74-78 MPH, and it’s pretty clear he has a bright future ahead.
His offense backed him with two runs in the bottom of the first inning off Seminoles starter Michael Psarros – who struggled with his command out of the gate, walking the first 3 batters of the game. A wild pitch scored the first run of the game and an RBI ground out off the bat of Darius Brown made it 2-0. Psarros was able to retire the next two batters to get his offense back in the dugout on this chilly November evening.
Hunter Kass led off with an infield single for the Seminoles, one of their three hits in the game. Gleeson was able to settle down and struck out two more batters, bringing his total to four on the game.
The Bulls really broke it open in the second inning. Psarros allows a walk and a single before being taken out in favor of Francis. Elliott Ross hit an RBI single to make it 3-0 and advance Gleeson to third. Some sloppy defense allowed the fourth run to score before an RBI single by Jesse Avanzino made it 5-0 and a dropped third strike extended it to 6-0.
End of 2: Bonnie Bulls have sprinted out to a 6-0 lead thanks to a 4-spot in the second inning. Gleeson has 4 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/WSpsCW3WMN
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 11, 2023
From that point on, both offenses were mitigated as there would be no more scoring. Credit to both team’s pitchers for settling in and throwing strikes.
Bonnies’ reliever Sebastian Pitt came on and worked two innings. He allowed one hit, two walks and struck out one batter. The Seminoles did get two batters runners in the seventh but were unable to cash in as the Bulls slammed the door shut the win the championship.
