by Trevor Dugan
Coach Mario Delgado and Devin Pula spoke to Axcess after EEP’s championship victory @EcybTournaments pic.twitter.com/z0YA9XJgjC
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 7, 2024
Dream Chasers Baseball Academy and the EEP Bandits Gray met to decide the 11U Stars and Stripes tournament championship this Sunday afternoon at Wantagh Park.
EEP defeated the Dream Chasers on Friday afternoon 5-2 in the first game of this tournament. Entering Sunday EEP was 3-0 in the tournament while the Dream Chasers were 2-1.
Devin Pula took the mound for EEP, while the Dream Chasers sent out Blake Martinez. Both starters would pitch the entire game.
The Dream Chasers went up 1-0 in the top of the first after lead off man Mike Sacco scored on a passed ball. Pula took a hard line drive to the leg during this inning, but returned triumphantly to the mound after a brief injury scare.
EEP wasted no time getting that run back. They scored twice in the first to give themselves a 2-1 lead. Elvis Mordan drove in a run with an RBI single. He would finish 1-1 with one walk and an RBI.
Pula pitched an efficient, scoreless second inning to maintain the narrow 2-1 lead for EEP.
In the bottom of the second EEP scored two more runs, each coming in on a wild pitch. They would take a 4-1 lead into the third inning.
The Dream Chaser bats finally got to Pula in the top of the third. After a walk and single, first baseman Felix Steelman hit a long RBI double to score both runners and cut into the EEP lead. Pula would strand him at second, but the lead had shrunk to just 4-3.
From this point on both starting pitchers had settled in nicely. One EEP runner reached base in the bottom of the third. He was promptly caught between second and third on a pickoff attempt by Martinez, then tagged out after a perfectly executed rundown by the Dream Chasers.
In the top of the fourth the Dream Chaser lead off man reached base on a walk, then advanced to third after a steal of second and a passed ball. Pula did not seem phased however, as he retired the next three batters in a row, striking out the last batter and pumping his fist in excitement.
EEP would load the bases in the bottom of the fourth, threatening to blow the game wide open. Fortunately for the Dream Chasers Martinez was able to pitch out of it, coercing the last two batters into a harmless groundout, then a strikeout to end the inning.
With the time limit approaching, the Dream Chasers would get one more chance to bat in the top of the fifth inning. But Pula was in a groove, and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to earn his team a 4-3 championship victory.
Martinez pitches out of a bases loaded jam to keep the score where it is
EEP 4 – Dream Chasers 3
End fourth pic.twitter.com/Uruy6skj2N— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 7, 2024
Pula pitched 5.0 innings, allowing just two hits and two earned runs while striking out three. He demonstrated exceptional command while working his way out of several tough situations.
EEP Coach Mario Delgado had nothing but good things to say about his team after the victory.
“It was a team effort from 1-14, this entire weekend the whole team played great,” Coach Delgado told Axcess. “ Great defense, great pitching and timely hitting is what got us this championship.”
Delgado noted that this was the eighth tournament championship of the season for EEP Gray.
