by John Sullivan
Post game interview with James Rodriguez and Coach Kevin Rodriguez after a big 6-5 win pic.twitter.com/GsO6c7FizD
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2024
On Saturday morning at Eisenhower Park, the EEP Bandits took on Titans Baseball in a pool play matchup in the 10u Memorial Day Clash.
Although it was the first game of the tournament for the Bandits, the Titans came into this game with huge momentum, as they had just beaten the Long Island Junior Ducks 15-0 in their first game of the tournament earlier in the morning.
The Titans would use this momentum to jump on the Bandits early. In the top of the first, the Titans offense was hitting all the ball over the plate, as Andrew Surace had an RBI single and Brody Hislop had a two RBI single to give the Titans a 3-0 lead. The Titans starting pitcher, Ryan Bird had a great bottom half of the inning, retiring the Bandits 1-2-3 with a groundout, pop out, and strikeout.
After their big first inning, the Titans offense had a quiet second inning, as they went down 1-2-3. In the bottom half of the second, the Bandits proved that the Titans wouldn’t be able to shut them down all game long. After Liam Cordero and Dylan Genad both hit singles the other way and advanced on a passed ball, Jackson De La Cruz drove Cordero in with an RBI groundout to shortstop. The next batter, Saed Almezar, drove in Genad on a hard hit sac fly to left field. Luckily for the titans, Ryan Bird was able to strike out the next batter to keep the score at 3-2 headed into the third.
Mid 2: Badits score 2 with help from this sac fly from Saed Almezar. Titans lead it 3-2 pic.twitter.com/ikmnwWEd4P
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2024
In the third, the Titans were determined to add some insurance runs, and that’s exactly what they did. After Dominic Giamatteo and Andrew Surace got things started with base hits, Ryan Bird helped himself and drove in Giammatteo with a single into right field to make it a 4-2 ballgame. Two batters later, Sebastian Diaz smoked a double over the center fielder’s head to bring home Surace and extend the Titans lead to 5-2. But, in the bottom of the third, the Bandits kept fighting back. After Justin Espinal worked a walk to start the inning, Bird was able to settle down for the Titans and get the next two guys out. With two outs, the Bandits sent their three batter, Ryan Perez to the plate, and he delivered with a clutch two out RBI triple the other way to cut the Titans lead to 5-3. The next batter, Liam Cordero, hit what seemed like was going to be an RBI single into right field but Titans second baseman, Jhael Vargas, laid out to make a spectacular play and end the inning.
Some great offense and defense being displayed in the top of the third. First, Ryan Perez comes up with a clutch two out RBI triple for the Bandits. Then, Jael Vargas makes a clutch diving play at second base to save a run for the Titans. Titans lead it 5-3 pic.twitter.com/Ypm04CA0Tk
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2024
In the top of the fourth, the Titans offense went quietly, as Carlos Lopez fired a shutout inning with two strikeouts for the Bandits. In the bottom of the fourth, the Bandits were able to just find a way to get some runs across, despite not getting a hit, due to some great base running. After Dylan Genad reached on an error and Jackson De La Cruz reached on a walk, the two would advance on a passed ball. After a wild pitch, Genad came in to score and De La Cruz advanced to third. Then, with 1 out and two strikes on him, Carlos Parra was able to put a ball in play to shortstop to bring home De La Cruz and tie the game up at 5.
End of 4: Carlos Parra hits a game tying RBI groundout for the Badits. 5-5 going into the fifth pic.twitter.com/SLYqS9W9kL
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2024
After his RBI groundout, Parra took over on the mound in the top of the fifth for the Bandits. In his first inning of relief, he fired a clutch scoreless inning with a strikeout. In the bottom of the fifth, the Bandits threatened to take the lead on Titans pitcher, Ryan Schiavo. Caleb Castillo hit a lead off single up the middle and groundouts from Joey Troman and Ryan Perez helped move Castillo to third. After the Titans opted to intentionally walk Liam Cordero, Schiavo had a long battle with Dylan Genad. The battle ended when Schiavo perfectly placed a fastball on the inside corner to catch Genad looking at strike three. The Titans and Bandits were all tied up heading into the sixth.
In the top of the sixth, Parra came out looking dominant for the Bandits. He fired a 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts and only needed 11 pitches to do it. In the bottom of the sixth, the Bandits wasted no time at all, as James Rodriguez jumped all over a first-pitch fastball and deposited it over the left field wall for a walk off home run! After the game we spoke with James, who said his approach up there was simple, he was just looking for a pitch to put some good contact on, and he definitely did that.
