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GAME RECAP: Smithtown Bulls Show Resilience With DH Sweep over Farmingdale Greendogs

by Jacob Infald

There is absolutely zero quit in the squad from Smithtown as this Saturday morning doubleheader showed why the Smithtown Bulls are at the top of the league in the East Coast 10U Summer Showdown National division. After overcoming a 9-0 deficit earlier in the season against the Sharks Baseball Academy, the Bulls demonstrated some more resilience today, including overcoming a 10-5 deficit in the last inning to sweep the doubleheader against a scrappy Farmingdale Greendogs team, winning two tightly contested games by scores of 5-4 and 11-10 respectfully to improve to 14-0 on the season.

Game 1:

The Bulls were able to manufacture a couple of runs early on thanks to a total of five walks in the top half of the first. However, the Greendogs offense came back firing in the bottom half of the frame.

With Bulls’ ace Luke Potucek on the bump, the bats were active early for the Greendogs. Catcher Ryan Sweeney led off the inning with an opposite field single to right. This was followed up with a walk from Liam Kirk and an RBI groundout from Justin Greenberg to cut the Bulls’ lead to one run.

The big hit came next from AJ Vanacore. Vanacore was the Greendogs’ starting pitcher and despite a rough first inning on the mound, he did not let that affect this at-bat. With a 1-0 count, Vanacore hit a towering blast to dead-center for a two-run homerun. This moonshot put the Greendogs ahead 3-2.

The score would remain 3-2 until the top of the third inning. After Vanacore and Potucek both settled down in the second inning, Vanacore would be the first to lose command again. Despite striking out two batters in the inning, Vanacore would also walk four, allowing another run to score, tying the game at three runs apiece. 

Chase Gosline would relieve Vanacore with two outs and the bases loaded, looking to keep the game tied up. Unfortunately, Zach Chaimowitz had other ideas. The big lefty bat hit a rope right back up the middle on the very first pitch Gosline threw and just like that the Bulls were back in front, leading 4-3. 

In the bottom half of the inning the Greendogs would respond with a little two out rally. Greenberg hit an infield single to third to bring up Vanacore. Potucek opted to pitch around Vanacore after the home run earlier in the game. The following batter, shortstop Leo Hernandez took this personally, with a base-hit up the middle scoring Greenberg and the game was tied at four runs a piece. 

At this point in the game it truly felt like whoever was going to score next would come out victorious. Gosline settled down and began dealing, firing five strikeouts in the following two innings and allowing zero runs. On the other side, Potucek would retire the side in order in the fourth before being relieved by Grayson Dick in the fifth who also would have a 1-2-3 inning. 

It appeared as if Gosline was going to throw a scoreless 6th inning as well. After Chaimowitz walked to start the inning, Vanacore made a great play at first base, jumping up to snag a line drive off the bat of Liam Swinson. Vanacore then beat Chaimowitz back to the bag to complete the solo doubleplay. 

The Bulls’ could have easily packed it in for the inning, but Dick had other plans, lacing a double to left field to keep the inning alive. The following batter, Matt Viggiani put the barrel on the ball, sending it right back up the middle for a base hit, bringing in Dick to score and the Bulls now led 5-4. The Bulls would then load the bases up, but Gosline bore down and was able to record another strikeout, his seventh of the day, to escape the jam.

The Greendogs did not go away easy in the bottom half of the 6th. A leadoff single by Vanacore and a walk from Hernandez put the winning run on base. However, Dick remained composed, retiring the following three batters, including two strikeouts to win the game by a score of 5-4 for the Bulls. 

Dick admits that the early base runners gave him a scare, however he knew that all he needed to do was relax and throw strikes to get his team the win.

“I was very nervous with first and second, just started throwing strikes, getting some outs I think helped us get the win,” Dick said.

Game 2:

The second game started once again with the Greendogs’ bats ablaze. Bryce Lieberman got the start for the Bulls and had a rare poor outing. He walked Sweeney to start the game before Kirk singled on the first pitch he saw to give the Greendogs two early base runners. The following batter, Greenberg hit a line drive single to left to drive in Sweeney. Vanacore was then able to drive in Kirk with a groundout. 

Luckily, with two outs Chaimowitz, the Bulls’ catcher for the second game was able to fire a dart down to third base to throw out Henderson attempting to steal and Lieberman was able to escape the jam with the Bulls trailing 2-0.

Greenberg was on the bump for the Greendogs and he did a great job working around trouble early. He left the bases loaded in the first inning, and he stranded two more runners in the second. However, the Bulls were able to squeak one across the plate in the bottom of the second courtesy of an RBI fielder’s choice from Viggiani.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Lieberman continued to struggle in the second. He retired the first two batters of the inning, but two, two out walks would come back to bite him. Sweeney would drive in a run with an RBI single to center and Kirk drove in two more with a bases clearing triple to left. After Greenberg was hit by a pitch to keep the inning going, Vanacore hit a ground-rule double to right-center to drive in Kirk to give the Greendogs a 6-0 lead. 

In the third inning, Rory Hyne would relieve Lieberman. Hyne did a sensational job keeping his team in the ball game. Hyne threw three consecutive scoreless innings, allowing the Bulls to chip away little by little.

In the bottom of the third, Dom Ciminiello led off with a double to left. Ciminiello was sensational today, collecting five hits, including going 4-4 in the second game with three doubles. For Long Island baseball fans, the name Ciminiello may sound familiar. Dom’s older brother Luke just graduated from Smithtown East this past spring and is joining a loaded Stony Brook University team this upcoming fall. Luke and Dom’s other older brother Michael Ciminiello graduated from Smithtown East in 2020 and has pitched on the Division-I, most recently for Gardner-Webb University this past spring.

Ciminiello’s coach, Coach Chaimowitz spoke about what it is like coaching a young player as talented as Dom.

“It’s an absolute pleasure,” Chaimowitz said. “He just wants to get better and better, he works hard and it shows on the field.”

After Ciminiello’s leadoff double in the third, he was driven in by Hunter Falcone who laid down a beauty of a bunt, good enough for an RBI single. Falcone advanced to second on a passed ball before being driven in by Nick Gentile. Gentile would then cross the plate after Chaimowitz hit a double to center field that just missed going over the fence. Just like that the Bulls were right back in the game, trailing 6-4. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Ciminiello once again came up big at the dish. He hit a laser down the third base line, scoring Hyne who hustled around all the way from first base to cut the deficit to just one run. Greenberg would be relieved by Matthew Garafola after this and Garafola would escape the inning and would also fire a scoreless fifth inning as well.

Heading into the 6th, the Bulls had all the momentum and the Greendogs knew they needed some insurance. Luckily they had their top of the order up ready to do some damage. Sweeney led off and hit a ball in the hole on the left side of the infield. Ciminiello made a diving play, but was not able to throw Sweeney out at first. This was followed up by another single by Kirk before Greenberg hit into a 6-4 fielder’s choice to set up runners on the corners with one out. 

Vanacore stepped up to the plate and this time the Bulls had no choice but to pitch to him. Vanacore took advantage, crushing a double to left field to give the Greendogs’ a huge insurance run and they were not done yet. At this point Hyne began to run out of steam and it appeared his defense had as well, as sloppy play from the Bulls led to the Greendogs having the bases loaded and a 9-5 lead.

The Bulls then called on Ciminiello to come on in relief. He did walk in a run, but recorded two huge outs to keep his team in shouting distance as they trailed 10-5 down to their final three outs. 

In the bottom of the 6th, the Bulls simply would not be denied. After Swinson walked and Dick singled to start the inning, the dugout was already getting fired up as the top of the order came to the plate. Despite exerting so much energy to simply get back into this game the first time, the Bulls were confident that they had one more rally in them. 

Viggiani and Hyne hit back to back singles, making it a 10-6 game bringing Ciminiello to the plate as the tying run and again the young superstar came through, hitting a booming double to left-center field to bring in two runs. The Greendogs were able to get Hyne out attempting to advance to third on the play, but they had lost all momentum at this point. 

Potucek then singled to left before both he and Ciminiello both advanced on a throwing error, giving the Bulls two runners in scoring position with the winning run at the dish in Hunter Falcone. During this at-bat, both Ciminiello and Potucek scored on wild pitches, tying the game at 10 runs apiece. Falcone was also able to draw a walk, putting the winning run at base. 

At this point Garafola was rattled so the Greendogs turned to Kirk where he forced Gentile to ground out. Lieberman then hit a ground ball to the left side where Hernandez layed out and made a diving play at shortstop, but unfortunately was not able to get Lieberman at first. The speedy Falcone advanced to third on this play where he was able to get a great read on a passed ball and hustle home for the game-winning run and the Bulls completed the comeback, winning 11-10. 

Coach Chaimowitz said that days like today demonstrate the great heart and resiliency that this young, talented squad has. As the regular season comes to a close soon, Chaimowitz says that the goal is to continue the winning ways heading into postseason play.

“Mindset is keep winning,” Chaimowitz said. “We haven’t lost yet, let’s keep the wins rolling…”

The Bulls improve to a league leading 14-0 and have one more doubleheader on Saturday August 3rd against the LI Black Diamonds who are also undefeated boasting a 9-0-1 record. The Greendogs fall to 5-5, but demonstrate that despite their average record, they are no average team and are a threat to make some noise in the postseason. They look to return to their winning ways on Wednesday, July 24th against the Kings Park Knights.

 

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Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres

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