by Jacob Infald
After a tough 1-1 tie on Friday against the South Shore Aviators, the Owls Baseball Club bounced back today in resounding fashion, sweeping a doubleheader against Titans Hutter, winning game one 10-3, and game two 3-1. Behind some very sound pitching, the Owls now improve to 11-5-1 on the season, trailing only South Shore Elite in the win column in the LI Boys of Summer 16U American division.
We spoke with Dylan Longo (East Islip 2026) after the game. He talks about his dominant outing where he threw six innings of one run ball, leading the Owls to a 3-1 victory. pic.twitter.com/2486gSin6j
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 14, 2024
Game 1:
The catalyst for the Owls’ success in game one was starting pitcher Nick Haas (Deer Park 2026). Hass threw a six inning complete game, allowing only two earned runs and he struck out six and only walked one.
The young right-hander said that trusting his fastball was one of the keys to his accuracy today, but he also made sure to implement his curveball when he felt like he really needed it.
Haas’s squad was able to manufacture an early run courtesy of two errors and two walks committed by the Titans’ defense in the top half of the first. The score would remain 1-0 until the bottom half of the second where the Titans’ offense began to display some life, something that would prove to be a rarity today.
Nate Alvarez (Bayshore 2025), who caught game one for the Titans was able to get on base courtesy of an error. The following batter, Thomas Rocco(St. Anthony’s 2026), hit a single to right, setting the Titans up with runners on the corners and nobody out.
Next, Tyler Chen (Hills East 2026), drove in Alvarez with a groundout to the shortstop, and then Conner O’Brien put the Titans ahead, driving in Rocco with a base hit to left. Haas would retire the following two batters to escape the inning, but his squad trailed 2-1.
Luke Murray was the starting pitcher for the Titans and he began to run into some trouble in the third. He hit the first batter, but Alvarez was able to fire a dart down to second to retire the runner attempting to steal. However, the Owls would respond, taking the momentum right back.
Back-to-back singles by Ryan Martone (Wantagh 2026) and Dylan Casani (East Islip 2025) put runners on base for the Owls. The Owls would take advantage, plating Martone on a sacrifice fly hit by catcher Nikko Rodriguez (Islip 2025), and after a scoreless third from Haas, the game was tied at two runs apiece after three innings of play.
In the top of the fourth, things began to unravel for the Titans, and the Owls’ bats would begin to ignite. This offensive spark actually began from Haas. With Dylan Broschart (Islip 2025) aboard, Haas hit a ball back up the middle for a base hit, driving in Broschart, giving his squad the lead.
Haas credits his manager, Joe D’Addario for helping him stay focused on both sides of the ball during games that he is pitching.
“My coach basically,” Haas said. “Always telling me to stay locked in.”
Haas’s hit led to many more for the Owls in the fourth. Conor Lockwood (Pat-Med 2026) and Vincent Giambo (Islip 2025) both record RBI singles in the frame to make it a 5-2 game.
The scoring would resume in the following inning. With Murray still on the mound for the Titans, Rodriguez and Jake Urban recorded back-to-back base hits, with Urban’s driving in Rodriguez to make it a 6-2 game in favor of the Owls.
In the top half of the sixth, things began to really take a turn for the worse for the Titans. Luiyi Gomez (Brentwood 2025), relieved Murray and the right-hander simply did not have it today. He walked four, and hit a batter. This lack of command led to the Owls tacking on four more insurance runs, taking a commanding 10-2 lead heading into the last half inning.
Haas would surrender one more run in the bottom half of the sixth, but it would not be enough for the Titans as the first game ended in a 10-3 victory for the Owls.
Haas said that the depth of his team allows their entire lineup to be dangerous, this certainly was the case in this game.
“We have good hitters all around,” Haas said. “Everybody can hit.”
Broschart with a successful save and the Owls win 3-1 to sweep the doubleheader. pic.twitter.com/DAC1s7or6n
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 14, 2024
Game 2:
The Owls were led by Dylan Longo (East Islip 2026), in the second game of the doubleheader. The southpaw fired six innings of one run ball and recorded seven strikeouts.
Longo said that the key to his success was getting ahead in counts, forcing Titan hitters into weak contact.
“Just throwing a lot of strikes, first pitch strikes, getting them to hit ground balls and working efficiently,” Longo said
The Titans were able to manufacture their sole run in the top half of the first inning. Luke Smith (St. John the Baptist 2026) led off with a walk. This was followed up by an infield single from Joseph George (North Babylon 2026). George was the Titans’ catcher during this game as well. Eventually, Smith would score on a groundout from Rocco to give the Titans an early 1-0 lead.
The score would remain this way until the bottom half of the second. With Chen on the mound for the Titans, the Owls were able to draw two walks to begin the frame.
This led to a sacrifice fly from Casani and an RBI single from Lockwood and just like that, the Owls were out in front with a 2-1 lead.
The Owls would tack onto this lead in the following inning with an RBI single from Broschart, plating James Sabella(West Islip 2025), who had led off the inning with a hit by pitch. However, things could have gotten out of hand here for the Titans if it were not for a very composed Chen. With runners on first and second and only one out, the right-hander remained composed, forcing two ground balls to get his time out of the inning.
However, the score would not change the remainder of the game. Longo continued to pound the zone, and his defense was making plays behind him. After the first inning, the Owls defense committed zero errors, giving the Titans’ struggling offense zero momentum to grasp.
Broschart relieved Longo in the seventh to secure the save for the Owls. Despite a one out single from Gomez, the Titans offense put up another goose egg that inning, losing the game 3-1.
Longo said that today’s all around effort is something that the team can definitely build off of going forward.
“…just keep playing great defense, keep hitting well and we will win more games,” Longo said.
The Owls’ next league contest will not be until July 29th, which will be against the Long Island Bolts. Titans Hutter, who falls to 4-12 on the season, will have a chance to bounce back quickly as their next contest will also be against the Bolts on July 15th, tomorrow night.
