by Jacob Infald
Tonight’s player of the game is Dodger Nations’ starting pitcher Costa Popoutsakis(Clarke 2027). Popoutsakis speaks on how he was able to get outs tonight without having his sharpest stuff and how his squad was able to use their energy to pull off the close victory. pic.twitter.com/5ryGITDRxS
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 28, 2024
On the evening of June 27th, Dodgers Nation Jasmin took on LIB Select in a league contest in the LI Boys of Summer 14U American Division. In a scrappy affair, Dodgers Nation was able to get the upper hand, winning 6-4 behind some strong aggressive base running.
Costa Papoutsakis got the start on the mound for Dodgers Nation. Papoutsakis, a member of the 2027 graduating class for perennial Nassau County public school powerhouse Clarke High School, did not have his best stuff. Over four innings, he walked eight hitters. However, this did not stop him from recording outs and giving his team a chance to win.
The young, up-and-coming pitcher talked about how he was able to stay composed on the mound despite struggling with command.
“All I needed to do was just breathe,” Papoutsakis said. “I took a couple seconds before each pitch when I was struggling and it just all came back to me, I went back to the basics.”
In the top half of the first, Papoutsakis walked four hitters, allowing one run to score. Then with the bases loaded and one out, Jack Eschmann hit a grounder to first base. Brian Lynch gobbled the ball up, stepped on first and threw it to second base where John Bulone was able to tag Landon Huthwaite to record the third out.
While a second run did cross the plate on this double play to give LIB Select an early 2-0 lead, this timely defensive play from Lynch helped get Papoutsakis out of an early jam.
For LIB Select, Lucas De Leon got the start on the mound. The southpaw also struggled with command, and had a couple untimely balks. One of which came in the first inning. After a one out walk from James Rober, Rober stole second and De Leon balked him over to third. This allowed Rober to score on a passed ball to get Dodgers Nation on the board.
However, De Leon was able to strike out two in the first, and the third out came when Noah Sanchez attempted to stretch a two out double into a triple, and was thrown out.
Papoutsakis settled down and retired the side in a scoreless second inning. In the bottom of the inning, with runners on first and second and one out, and Papoutsakis at the plate, LIB Select made a critical mental error. Papoutsakis took ball three, however, Dodgers Nation thought it was ball four and their runners jogged to second and third. However, De Leon threw the ball over to second base, allowing George Cancel Jr., who was now standing on third base to run home to tie the game at two runs a piece.
De Leon would make up for this error later in the inning. With the bases loaded and only one out, he bore down and forced Bulone to hit a ground ball to third base, leading to a force out at the plate. The following hitter, Kyle Simcox flew out to center field and De Leon got out of the inning.
Papoutsakis continued to look strong in the third, as he retired the side without allowing a run. The momentum of the inning turned early when Vincent Filardo hit a leadoff grounder to Bulone at short. Bulone bobbled the ball, but recovered and with the help of a great scoop by Lynch at first, the Dodgers were able to avoid a leadoff base runner.
After Rober walked to begin the bottom half of the third, Simcox pinch ran for him. However, a successful pickoff move from De Leon led to Simcox being stuck in no man’s land and he was thrown out at second for the first out. De Leon walked Lynch, but struckout the following two hitters to get out of the inning.
In the fourth, LIB Select finally began to grasp some momentum again. Papoutsakis walked the first two batters of the inning. This eventually led to their being runners on second and third with two outs, as Matthew Vosilla stepped up to the plate. Vosilla connected and sent the ball to the gap in left-center. Huthwaite and Eschmann scored and LIB Select took a 4-2 lead.
However, this momentum was short-lived for LIB Select. Cancel Jr. led off the inning and hit a bloop single to right. However, this ball got by the right fielder, going all the way to the fence and Cancel Jr. had a stand-up triple. The following hitter, Sal Galluccio worked a walk, after a long battle with multiple foul balls.
After Papoutsakis flew out, Michael Arteca walked to load up the bases. De Leon then balked, allowing Cancel Jr. to score to make it a 4-3 game. De Leon then struckout Bulone on a nasty off-speed pitch for the second out. Unfortunately, a costly E6 from Lucian Roman allowed a second run to score and the game was all tied up at four apiece.
Papoutsakis said that even when his team was down, their dugout was always bringing the energy which allowed them to always stay in the game.
“It was all the dugout,” Papoutsakis said. “We all stayed up the entire game, all the energy was there.”
Galluccio relieved Papoutsakis in the fifth and retired the side in order, including two strikeouts.
In the bottom half of the frame, Dodgers Nation would deliver the final blows. With Roman now on the mound for LIB Select, Sanchez worked a leadoff walk. Sanchez would steal second, and then he stole third, the throw went arie and he hustled home to score on the play, giving Dodgers Nation a 5-4 lead.
Noah Sanchez with some hustle to give Dodgers Nation the lead! Sanchez walked to lead off the inning. He stole second, and on this pitch stole third and was able to swipe home when the throw got away.
Dodgers Nation 5 – LIB Select 4. pic.twitter.com/03ad3jwhAW— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 27, 2024
After Bulone drew a two out, bases loaded walk, the game was called due to time constraints and Dodgers Nation was victorious 6-4.
Dodgers Nation is now tied with Titans Crema, for the most wins in the 14U American Division with 10.
Papoutsakis said that the team needs to keep on bringing positive energy to the field like they did today in order to continue their hot streak.
“Just keep it rolling,” Papoutsakis said. “Same energy in the dugout…we are all fighting really well…”
Dodgers Nation has a double header against Diamond Baseball Academy on Sunday, July 21st, while LIB Select has a much quicker turnaround with a double header this Saturday, June 29th against Yeti Baseball Navy.
