by Tucker Terranova
Christian Valera breaks down what worked for him today in Division’s 11-1 win pic.twitter.com/b1oK9UqEMp
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 20, 2024
In the second game of their three-game series, No. 6 Division faced off against No. 5 Long Beach in front of their home crowd with the opportunity to advance to the championship round and retain their title as Class AA County Champions.
After starting the tournament with a 4-0 record and a commanding +28 run differential, Division seamlessly carried their momentum into Game 2. Eight of the nine starters reached base, five of them had multi-RBI afternoons, and Christian Varela shut down the Long Beach offense en route to an 11-1 win that only required five innings.
Looking to rebound after dropping the series opener 4-2, the Long Beach offense came out of the gate red-hot. Christian Parisa laid down a picture-perfect bunt along the third base foul line and advanced to second on Paddy Henry’s groundout. With an opportunity to do damage, Dan Defonte set the tone for Long Beach, roping an RBI double to right field and giving Long Beach an early 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately for Long Beach, that would be all they would get this afternoon as Varela settled in and held them scoreless the rest of the way.
Looking to advance to the championship round, Varela lasted five innings, surrendering one run on six hits, striking out three, and hitting one batter on his way to the win.
When asked what worked for him, Valera cited, “Getting ahead a lot and throwing strikes.”
Long Beach looked to add to their lead in the top of the fourth, and it seemed they might do so after loading the bases. However, Varela weathered the storm, forcing Evan Marks to ground out and regaining some momentum for his team.
Division carried the momentum to the plate and capitalized on Long Beach’s mistakes in the bottom of the fourth. Aidan Quinn reached on a hit-by-pitch and came all the way around to score from first on the next play when Cody Brush’s chopper to third base was thrown away, rolling to the wall and tying the game at 1.
When asked how the run support helped his mentality on the mound, Varela said, “It gave me so much confidence to throw strikes and settle in.”
Fortunately for Long Beach, Parisa stranded Brush at third by retiring the next three batters he faced.
The top of the fifth started with a single from Caiden Seigel before Parisa mishandled a bunt back to the mound.
Little did he and Long Beach know, this would be the beginning of an offensive downpour from Division that culminated in 10 runs, 6 hits, and 13 batters stepping up to the plate.
Bottom 5: Long Beach 1 | Division 2
Matt Bolton gives Division the lead, ripping an RBI double down the line pic.twitter.com/PUjxoeoVPB
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 20, 2024
Bolton, the reigning league MVP, started the scoring off with an RBI double, giving Division a 2-1 lead.
Isiah Marino followed suit with an RBI single of his own. This was succeeded by a cascade of RBIs from Brush, Tyler Diez, and Siegel, each contributing two, alongside Bolton’s second RBI courtesy of his second double of the inning before Long Beach registered an out.
Marino came up again and ripped an RBI single, sealing the 11-1 victory that would be called for the run-rule.
With the win, Division advances to the championship round where they await the winner of the Bellmore JFK/Carey series.
