by Jacob Infald
Despite an RBI single from Quinn, Cruz gets Martin to strikeout to end the game.
LI Elite Prospects 7 – B1 Ghost 4 pic.twitter.com/o210zpmCZA— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 6, 2024
On the evening of July 5th, LI Elite Prospects Sav took on the B1 Ghost JTF in the 15U National Division for an LI Boys of Summer league showdown. Despite being one of the top teams in the league with a 5-2-1 record, B1 Ghost was taken down thanks to a six run barrage in the fifth inning from LI Elite, as they were victorious by a score of 7-4.
Ryan Manno (Chaminade 2027), got the action started for LI Elite in the top half of the first. With Andrew Cucuzza (Plainview-Old Bethpage 2027), on the mound for B1 Ghost, Manno worked a leadoff walk. The speedy Manno stole second, advanced to third on a groundout, before scoring on a passed ball to give LI Elite an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the first, Joe Doherty (St. Anthony’s 2026) took the mound for LI Elite. Despite surrendering a leadoff ground-rule double to left to Brendan Martin (Floral Park 2026), Doherty threw a scoreless first inning, including firing two strikeouts.
Both pitchers fired scoreless second innings and the score remained 1-0 heading into the third inning. Ricky Guzman (Kellenberg 2027), relieved Cucuzza to start the inning and immediately found himself in a pickle. After two one out walks, and a Doherty sacrifice bunt, there were runners on second and third with two outs. Guzman bore down, and forced LI Elite’s catcher Matt Mianulli (Syosset 2026) to ground out to get out of the jam.
In the bottom half of the frame, B1 Ghost would get on the board. With one out, B1 Ghost received a boost from the bottom of the order as Casey Quinn(Wheatley 2026) hit a blast to left for a standup double. Quinn would then steal third before Martin drove him in with a groundout to shortstop and the game was tied at one run apiece following three innings of play.
In the top of the fourth, Guzman once again was able to work out of trouble to keep LI Elite off the board. Despite two, two out singles from Jonathon Cruz (Westbury 2026), and Chase Troiano, Guzman was able to retire the side without any damage, forcing Connor Flynn (Wellington C. Mepham 2027) to ground out to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the fourth, B1 Ghost looked to have a little two-out rally of their own. Skylar Lang (Garden City 2026), singled to center with two outs. Doherty then walked the following two batters to load up the bases. Doherty was then relieved by Flynn, who walked in a run, but otherwise got out of the inning without allowing an earned run. However, for the first time of the game, LI Elite trailed and they looked to respond in the following inning.
After scoring the go-ahead run, Lang took the mound for B1 Ghost. Unfortunately, Lang struggled and LI Elite took advantage. After a leadoff walk, Michael Sica (Division 2026) and Manno both recorded singles courtesy of beautifully placed bunts to load up the bases for LI Elite with the meat of their batting order coming up.
The first run came when Doherty hit a perfectly placed ground ball to the shortstop area that nobody could get to. This tied the game at two runs apiece. The following batter, Mianulli put LI Elite in front for good. With an 0-1 count, Mianulli hit a rope to center field, scoring both Sica and Manno and LI Elite led 4-2.
Mianulli said that he understood the situation at hand, demonstrating great baseball IQ for a high schooler. He said that this helped his approach at the dish, leading to the big hit.
LI Elite Prospects comes right back! With the score already 2-2, after multiple successful bunts, Mianulli with two RBIs here with this base hit up the middle. His squad now leads 4-2 with one out here in the 5th. pic.twitter.com/W8pKzsvNh4
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 5, 2024
“I saw runners on scoring position, less than two outs, I was just trying to lift the ball into the outfield, get a run in,” Mianulli said.
LI Elite was not done yet, the following batter Will Auerbach (Kellenberg 2027) hit a ground rule double, advancing Mianulli to third. Two batters later, with two outs, Cruz drove both runners in with a single over the shortstop to make it a 6-2 ballgame in favor of LI Elite. LI Elite would score their final run of the inning courtesy of an RBI single from Troiano and they now led 7-2.
Mianulli said that most of his teammates have faced off against Lang before, this gave the team the confidence they needed as they knew they could hit him.
“We knew the pitcher, we knew we were capable of scoring on him,” Mianulli said. “We were hype!”
Despite a fielding error from Troiano, Flynn was able to throw a scoreless fifth, preventing B1 Ghost’s explosive, deep lineup from getting any momentum back after the big rally.
Lang and Flynn would both throw scoreless sixth innings. This was highlighted by a 1-6-3 double play in the bottom half of the frame, as Sica made a great effort to turn the double play to once again prevent B1 Ghost’s lineup from starting a rally.
After Anton Maken (Wellington C. Mepham 2026), threw a scoreless inning for B1 Ghost, they looked to have one final rally in them in the bottom half of the frame.
Flynn walked Cucuzza to start the inning. Cucuzza would steal second, before advancing to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Then after Maken popped out to right, Cucuzza was able to tag up after a sloppy throwing error by Auerbach in right, cutting the deficit to four runs.
More sloppy play from LI Elite would help to extend the game. With two outs, Noah Gross reached on a throwing error from Troiano at third. Gross would advance to second on the play.
Cruz then came on in relief to record the final out. He struggled, walking Matthew Sheps before Quinn drove in Gross on an RBI single. This was Quinn’s second hit of the game, giving his squad great production out of the 11 spot. Then, with Martin at the plate, Cruz was able to lock in and get him looking to get out of the inning and win the game.
Tonight’s player of the game is Matt Mianulli(Syosset 2026). Mianulli drove in the go-ahead run for LI Elite Prospects in their 7-4 win over B1 Ghosts. Mianulli, who caught the entire game credits his pitchers and his team’s overall energy for tonight’s win. pic.twitter.com/VQJOhJ5jVY
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 6, 2024
Mianulli said that his team can certainly build off of tonight’s victory, especially with the way they were able to rally in the fifth.
“Keep hitting like that…same energy,” Mianulli said.
LI Elite Prospects Sav improves to 3-1 on the summer in league play. This gives them the second highest winning percentage in the division, only trailing LI Elite Cuomo. B1 Ghost JTF drops to 5-3-1 and looks to bounce back on Sunday with a doubleheader against Stealth. LI Elite will have to wait until July 23rd until their next league game, as they have some tournaments coming up.
