by Trevor Dugan
Game 1
Axcess caught up with the Top Tier Aviators after their 4-1 victory@liboysofsummer pic.twitter.com/K7nyZaiO9j
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 9, 2024
Titans Baseball Petraitis played two games Sunday morning, facing the Top Tier Aviators in game one at Diamond in the Pines.
Runs were hard to come by to start the day as both teams’ starting pitchers had their best stuff working.
The Aviators started Jake Bodenburg, and he was lights out from the very beginning. He struck out the first batter of the game looking. The next Titans batter walked and reached scoring position, then Bodenburg struck out the next two batters as well.
The Titans sent out Tommy Murphy to start on the mound. Not to be outdone by his Top Tier counterpart, Murphy also struck out three batters in the first.
After a scoreless first, the Aviators got it going in the bottom of the second. A well executed hit and run RBI single by Luke Hefner brought in the first run of the game to make it 1-0.
Another RBI single by Shane Jennerich pushed the lead to two. Jennerich was driven in right away on an RBI double by center fielder Jackson Marte, making it 3-0 Aviators at the end of the second.
In the top of the third, the Titans needed to answer. A ball hit into the gap with one out looked like a surefire extra base hit, but Top Tier’s Marte tracked it down and made a spectacular throw from the wall to catch the batter as he tried for second.
It would remain 3-0 for the next three innings. Both starting pitchers looked untouchable as they racked up strikeouts.
Bodenburg went four innings, allowing no runs and striking out eight Titans en route to the victory.
Murphy was fantastic as well, aside from a rough second inning. He ended up pitching five innings, allowing three runs and also striking out eight.
Tyler Callahan came on in the fifth for the Aviators to relieve Bodenburg. He pitched three scoreless innings and came away with the save.
The Aviators would add one more run in the top of the sixth to push their lead to 4-0.
Four was more than enough, as Bodenburg and Callahan shut the Titans out, leading their team to a 4-0 victory.
Head coach Jason Galbraith seemed satisfied with his team’s performance after the game.
“The pitching has been strong for us and our defense has been really good,” Galbraith told Axcess Baseball. “Our offense needs to pick it up a bit, but we’re going to keep working at it, get it figured out, and have a nice summer.”
Now 3-1 on the year, the Aviators play once again Wednesday, June 12 against Titans Baseball Hutter.
Game Two
In their second game of the day, Titans Petraitis faced off against the South Shore Elite.
Unlike the tightly contested first game, this one got out of hand quickly. South Shore struck for six runs in the first inning, as the Titans starter struggled with his control in the rainy conditions.
Six more runs come across for the Elite, one coming on this RBI single by Benjamin Arreaga
South Shore 15 – Titans 0
Mid third pic.twitter.com/HhqbWu2FAm— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 9, 2024
Tyler Kayume came on in relief for the Titans with just one out and four runs already in.
Several walks and a two run RBI single by Aidan Haug had the Elite leading 6-0 after the top of the first. Haug would finish with four RBIs on the day, a team high.
South Shore sent out Dylan Alt to start the game on the mound. The hard throwing right hander fired a 1-2-3 first inning and touched 80 MPH with his fastball.
After a strong first inning by Alt, the South Shore bats went right back to work. A merry go round of walks brought in three more runs, as the Elite showed great plate discipline to push their lead to 9-0 in the second.
Titans pitchers walked 14 batters in just three innings, with every batter in the South Shore lineup drawing at least one walk.
It was more of the same for Alt in the second inning. After two quick outs he allowed the only hit of the game for the Titans, then promptly caught the baserunner in a rundown to end the inning.
The Elite had their eyes on a mercy rule victory heading into the third, and they exploded for six more runs.
The highlight of the inning was an RBI single by Benjamin Arreaga. The typically right handed outfielder came to the plate hitting lefty, and delivered a line drive to left to drive in their fifteenth run of the game.
Despite tallying just five hits in the game, the Elite were able to score 15 times.
The Titans could only muster one hit off of Alt. His overpowering fastball and devastating curveball would prove to be too much to handle.
The game would end after just three innings on a mercy rule.
This was the first victory of the season for the Elite. They’ll be back in action Wednesday June 12 when they take on the B1 Ghost Black.
The Titans fall to 0-5 on the year after Sunday’s defeats. Their next game is Wednesday June 19 against the Long Island Empire McCarty.
