by Trevor Dugan
Axcess spoke to Marcario and Crawford of Five Star National Terry after their game against MP Citius pic.twitter.com/5Mgjo4aJDf
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2024
Five Star National Terry and MP Citius faced off Saturday morning as part of the PG Northeast World Series at Moriches Sports Complex.
Runs were hard to come by as pitchers from both sides had everything working on Saturday.
Five Star went with Jacob Marcario to start the game, while MP Citius handed the ball to Landon O’Hara.
MP Citius jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to an RBI single by Luke Antonucci that drove in two. These would be the only runs of the game for Citius.
Citius’ pitching and defense were tested from the start, as Five Star loaded the bases in the bottom of the first. With their lead already threatened, O’Hara was able to bear down and record the final two outs to finish the shutdown inning and keep the score at 2-0.
This would be a theme throughout the game as Five Star left runners on base in all six innings, including three instances in which they stranded the bases loaded.
From the second inning onward the pitchers took control of the game. Marcario was effective after his shaky first inning, pitching four innings while allowing just two runs and striking out four.
Citius pitchers were faced with three straight bases loaded jams in the first three innings, and worked out of them each time while allowing just one run. O’Hara, and relievers Ellis Wagman and Ryan Johnson combined to strand 15 runners on base in six combined innings of work.
In the bottom of the third, Five Star cut the lead to 2-1 thanks to a bases loaded hit by pitch. One run was all they would get however, as Wagman got the next two batters to strand the bases loaded for the third straight inning.
Thomas Crawford replaced Five Star starter Marcario in the fifth inning, and was immediately unhittable. His fastball was consistently hovering around 80 MPH, and the Citius hitters simply couldn’t keep up. He would pitch two scoreless innings for Five Star in the fifth and sixth.
The bottom of the sixth proved to be the most eventful and controversial inning of the day. As the time limit loomed, Five Star had a man on second with two outs. With Citius still leading 2-1, the third strike was dropped by the Citius catcher.
The umpire initially called the batter out on the swing. However, the batter ran to first and was called safe by the infield umpire after a delayed throw by the Citius catcher. During this confusion, the runner on second came around to score and tie the game for Five Star. This led to an explosive argument between umpires, parents, and coaches alike. At the end, the umpires chose to allow the play to stand, and the head coach of Citius chose to protest the result of the game.
The 15u PG Northeast World Series matchup between MP Citius and Five Star National Terry ends in a tie after controversy surrounding a dropped third strike.
FINAL:
Citius 2 – Five Star 2 pic.twitter.com/qoV8QV1n7r— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2024
The game would end on a flyout by the next batter, the final score 2-2. An entertaining defensive struggle throughout, it was a confusing end to an otherwise well played game.
In a game such as this it’s important to stay focused, and Five Star starter Marcario spoke to that after the game.
“You’ve got to stay up, and keep your head up,” Marcario told Axcess. “I kept throwing strikes, letting the batters hit ground balls to try and get out of the inning easy with no runs.”
Five Star National Terry returns to tournament action Sunday at 8:00 AM vs Team Beast 2027 National at Moriches Sports Complex.
MP Citius will face off against Showtime Select 2027 Fusco Sunday at 10:20 AM, also at Moriches Sports Complex.
