by Jacob Infald
In today’s fast paced environment, most baseball fans believe that the most exciting contests are those that are high scoring and fast paced. However, yesterday’s LI Boys of Summer 15U American division doubleheader between Titans Manzi and South Shore Elite proved just the opposite, that low scoring pitching duels can be just as exciting as a slugfest. In two games that featured dominant pitching from both squads the two teams tied game one 3-3, while the Titans came out on top, winning the second game 3-1.
Game 1:
We spoke with Aiden Prashad (Holy Trinity 2027). Aiden fired 6 and 2/3 innings for Titans Manzi and while the game did end in a tie, Prashad played great, striking out 11 and going 1-1 at the plate with a triple and two walks. pic.twitter.com/gSXvAWOVp3
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2024
Game one featured excellent pitching from Titans’ starter Aiden Prashad (Holy Trinity 2027). The young righthander demonstrated excellent command of his fastball and was able to throw his breaking ball for strikes, something that not many pitchers at his age are able to do effectively.
Prashad noted that his ability to utilize his curveball with two strikes helped him keep South Shore Elite’s hitters off balance which helped him rack up a whopping 11 strikeouts over six and two thirds innings.
“The curveball was really good on the two strike counts,” Prashad said. “I gotta shout out my catcher for framing the ball good, stealing some strikes.”
Prashad’s catcher, Chase Braun (Miller Place 2027) is the son of former Long Island superstar catcher Ronald Braun. Ronald played at St. John the Baptist and graduated in 2000 before going on to play collegiately at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the University of Louisville and even played some minor league baseball after his college career. His son Chase will certainly be a name to look out for on the Long Island catching spectrum as he progresses through high school.
The game actually started off quite poorly for Braun and the Titans. In the first inning South Shore Elite was able to get to Prashad early. Jack Aramini led the game off with a bloop single to right field. Three batters later with two outs, James Morale drove in Aramini by also going to right field with a single. He advanced to third when the following batter, Jack Harrington (Division 2027), hit a base hit to left field. Morale proceeded to score on a wild pitch and just like that South Shore Elite was up 2-0 early.
Pat McGoldrick was on the hill for South Shore Elite. The tall right-hander out of Chaminade High School demonstrated great command of his fastball, only walking two over five innings of work where he also struck out five and allowed two earned runs.
McGoldrick was hot early as he struck out the side in the bottom of the first to preserve his early lead. However, Prashad would do the same in the top half of the second, striking out South Shore Elite in order en route to a scoreless second.
Despite Prashad hitting a one out triple in the bottom half of the second, the Titans would not be able to get on the board until the bottom half of the third. Jayson Angelo would get on base courtesy of a hit by pitch to start off the inning. This was followed up by a gapper from Braun to set the Titans up with two runners in scoring position with nobody out and their top of the order coming to bat.
Two batters later, Nick Nuzzi (Wantagh 2027) would get the Titans on the board with a sacrifice fly to right. The following batter, Kevin Hoeler (Hauppauge 2027) hit a ground ball to third base where unfortunately, Joe Grasso air-mailed the throw, allowing another run to score and after three innings of play the score was tied up at two apiece.
The next three innings brought more dominance from Prashad. Besides a two-out triple in the fifth from Grasso (Wantagh 2026), Prashad was flawless, striking out five more batters and the Titans would use this momentum to take the lead for the first time all afternoon.
In the bottom of the fourth Prashad led off and worked a walk after fouling off a couple tough pitches. The following batter, Jake Policastro layed down a great bunt to sacrifice Prashad to second. Prashad would then steal third before scoring on a groundout to the shortstop by David Miller (Hewlett 2027) and the Titans were out in front 3-2.
With one out and nobody on in the bottom of the fifth, Braun hit a rocket off of Grasso’s glove at third that was ruled a hit. Braun had been slumping this season and was batting last in the batting order today. Prashad and the rest of the team were certainly excited to see their catcher break out of his slump.
“He played great,” Prashad said. “He was in a little bit of a slump but he finally got out of it, I’m happy for him.”
Braun was pinch run for by Angelo who advanced to second on a single from Dylan Dinkelacker (Mineola 2027). Unfortunately, Angelo was picked off for the second out of the inning. McGoldrick would bear down and force Nuzzi to groundout to end the threat and to conclude a very solid outing for McGoldrick.
McGoldrick was relieved by Rob Brisette (Macarthur 2026). The left-hander pitched great, throwing a scoreless sixth setting his team up for a big rally in the seventh.
Two-out rally!! Max Fried(Hewlett 2027) drives in Jack Harrington to tie the game at 3 apiece. Hoeler now relieves Prashad to keep this game tied. pic.twitter.com/8fB8ISrDam
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2024
Down to their final strike, Harrington was able to maintain his composure at the plate and work a huge walk to keep the game alive. The following batter, Chris Amodeo (East Meadow 2026), hit a single to right to keep the game alive for South Shore Elite. The following batter was Max Fried and his ground ball to second base would tie the game up due to an errant throw from Angelo.
At this point Prashad was over 100 pitches and was relieved by Hoeler. Hoeler bore down and forced Grasso to ground out to escape the jam and keep the score tied.
The game would ultimately end up in a tie after Brisette retired the side in order in the bottom half of the seventh, striking out Angelo to end the exciting first half of the doubleheader.
Game 2:
We spoke to Kevin Hoeler (Hauppauge 2027). He threw 4 and 2/3 innings for Titans Manzi in their 3-1 victory over South Shore Elite in the second game of their doubleheader. He talks about the toughness of his squad and their ability to win close games. pic.twitter.com/TaisGlhPqq
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2024
Game two saw some more dominant pitching from both sides, and similar to game one there was action early on in the top half of the first. After finishing the last game, Brisette remained on the mound for South Shore Elite to start the first inning. Unfortunately, he would allow some runs this time around.
Dinkelacker led off the game with a single to center field. Nuzzi would follow it up with a hard ground ball to the left side, resulting in an infield single. Brisette would settle in to retire the following two hitters, but he ran into Prashad who demonstrated once again that he is a legit two-way threat, crushing a ball to left field for a stand up, bases clearing double to put the Titans up 2-0.
The Titans would also look to their reliever from game one to start game two and unlike Brisette, Hoeler would pick up right where he left off, going scoreless through the first four innings. Hoeler said that he had all his stuff going strong during his outing and similar to Prashad, was able to demonstrate great control with his off speed.
“My fastball was working and I had command with my off speed,” Hoeler said
Brisette was relieved by Nick Nardone, another young, talented arm out of Chaminade High School. The class of 2027 product worked efficiently, striking out five batters in his first two innings of work keeping the score 2-0 in favor of the Titans through the first three innings of play.
In the top of the fourth the Titans would look to add some insurance. With one out and nobody on, Prashad would once again reach base, taking a fastball on the outer half of the plate to right-center field for a single. He would then proceed to steal second and third before scoring on a wild pitch to extend the Titans’ lead to 3-0.
South Shore Elite’s offense began to wake up in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Harrington led off the inning with a triple in the right-center field gap. Two batters later, Lucas Castillo would drive in Harrington with a single up the middle to get South Shore Elite on the board.
Later in the inning, after a walk and a hit batter, the Titans were forced to go to the bullpen with the bases loaded and two outs. Nuzzi took the ball from Hoeler and bore down to get a huge out, forcing Aramini to pop out to LaMura in center to end the threat, keeping the score 3-1 in favor of the Titans.
The score would remain 3-1 as after Nuzzi fired a scoreless sixth, the game was called early due to time constraints and the Titans were victorious 3-1.
And the Titans win! With the game ending on time limit, this groundout is the final out.
Titans Manzi 3 – South Shore Elite 1 pic.twitter.com/ixOTXm3xKg— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2024
Hoeler said that when things get tight for his team, their key to success is to focus on consistency with the basics. They certainly were able to execute this gameplan today in two tight contests against a talented South Shore Elite squad.
“”We kept trying to hit and we stayed consistent in the field, made plays,” Hoeler said.
The Titans improve to 10-6-2 and currently sit at seventh place in the standings in the 16 team 15U American Division. Even with the tough loss and tie, South Shore Elite is still in prime position to wreak havoc in the playoffs. They are now in fifth place, with a 12-7-2 record. Titans Manzi will take on the Long Island Storm on Monday, July 29th. South Shore Elite will also have a quick turnaround, as they have a pivotal late season matchup against Dodgers Nation Anzano, who sit only one spot ahead of them in the standings. They will face off on Monday July 29th.
