by John Sullivan
Noah Bisgeier brings us through his mindset on the mound today. He went 3 and two thirds with only 1 hit given up and no earned runs pic.twitter.com/5C4DNVDQ5C
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 5, 2024
The matchup between Long Island Elite and Baseball U was one between two high powered offenses who can strike at any time, and Baseball U displayed that right away, as RJ Smith delivered a one out double off the fence. Elite starting pitcher, Ethan Monteiro, got a big strikeout on the next batter, but Brayden Maras came through for Baseball U with a big RBI double to put Baseball U up 1-0. In the bottom of the first, the Elite offense responded. CJ Ingram and Ethan Monteiro got things started with back to back walks and a double steal. Luke Groce then came through with a Sac Fly that ended up scoring both runners, due to a bad throw. Luckily for Baseball U, pitcher Matteo Giancarlo got the final two puts to keep the scar at 2-1.
Mid 2: Bit of a crazy start to the game here. Elite has scored runs on a sac fly and an error, and Baseball U has scored on two balks and an overthrow on a steal of third. Here’s a video of the overthrow, Baseball U leads it 3-2 pic.twitter.com/Ozi1b5V4u8
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 5, 2024
In the top of the second, Baseball U continued to hit. Joe Mussachia started the inning with a single and Christian Patey followed up with a single of his own. After a double steal, a balk and an overthrow on a pickoff attempt from the catcher allowed both runners to score for Baseball U, making it 3-2. Elite once again responded in the bottom of the second. Ryan Dowd led off with a walk and advanced to second on a pickoff attempt that was thrown away. Noah Bisgeier then ripped a single up the middle to score Dowd and tie the game. Bisgeier then stole second and a groundout to short moved him to third. The next at bat, Matteo Giancarlo got a huge strikeout for out number two, but a two out ball allowed Bisgeier to score and for Elite to take a 4-3 lead.
With Noah Bisgeier now in relief for Elite, there was finally a quiet inning in the top of the third. In the inning, Bisgeier got a strikeout and two groundouts. In the bottom of the third, Elite kept hitting. Despite back to back groundouts to start the inning, Elite still managed to score 2 thanks to three singles in a row from Ethan Monteiro, Luke Groce, and Dylan Gallardo. Elite led 6-3 heading into the fourth.
Matteo Giancarlo breaks off a nasty curveball for the backwards K to end his fourth inning of work. Baseball U trails 6-4 heading into the fifth pic.twitter.com/8WhzDjpp4D
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 5, 2024
Bisgeier tossed a hitless inning in the fourth, but despite this, Baseball U still managed to score a run. Brayden Maras reached base on an E4 and stole second to start the inning. John Mussachia then grounded out to second to move Maras to third, who eventually scored on a first and third play where Elite took the out and allowed the run to score to make it 6-4. In the bottom of the fourth, the Elite bats were finally quiet, as Giancarlo fired a scoreless inning with no hits given up for his last inning of work.
The top of the fifth was also a quiet one, as Noah Bisgeier tossed a scoreless inning that was capped off with a 11-3-2 double play. Bisgeier finished his day with 3 and two third on the mound, only one hit given up, and 0 earned runs. The bottom of the fifth was Colin Debrich’s first inning out of the bullpen for Baseball U and it was a great one. He threw a very quick inning, in which he induced three groundouts and only allowed one base runner. Baseball U trailed by two with only three outs left.
Mid 5: Elite pulls off a rare 1-3-2 double play. Noah Bisgeier has been phenomenal in relief for Elite, with 3 and two thirds of work with no earned runs given up so far. Elite still up 6-4 pic.twitter.com/UhRuykykb7
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 5, 2024
Micheal Vigorito started the top of the sixth off with a hard hit ground ball to short for an out. Down to their final two outs, it felt like there was little hope for Baseball U, but Colin Debrich came through with a single and RJ Smith worked a walk to put the tying run on base. The two then advance on a wild pitch to put the tying run in scoring position. With the tying run on second, Matteo Giancarlo hit a ball hard into center field, but it was hit right at the center fielder for out number two. Elite then opted to intentionally walk Brayden Maras to load the bases, and John Mussachia made them regret that decision. Down to his final strike, Mussachia smoked a ball into the right center field gap to clear the bases and give Baseball U a 7-6 lead. Mark Ricciardi then got the next batter to ground out to keep it a 1 run game.
Clutch! With Basbeall U down to their last strike and down by 2, John Massachia smokes a line drive into the gap for a bases clearing double and to give Baseball U a 7-6 lead with only three outs to go pic.twitter.com/de6UeHJZeR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 5, 2024
After a rough top half, Elite showed heart in the bottom of the sixth. Luke Groce tattooed a ball into the left center field gap for a double to start things off. After a wild pitch that allowed him to advance to third, Ethan Sabow hit a clutch one out single to tie the game. Sabow stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but Colin Debrich induced back to back groundouts to end the game at a 7-7 tie.
Although a tie is never an ideal result, both teams should walk away from this game with their heads held high. It was a battle all the way through between two great and very complete baseball teams. Expect to hear a lot about these teams and these players in the years to come.
