by Jacob Infald
With postseason play looming, today’s late season doubleheader in the ECYBL 12U Summer Showdown National division between the Farmingdale Greendogs and the LI Storm Blue lived up to the hype. With both teams jostling for playoff positioning, the Storm were able to rise above, winning the first game 4-3 courtesy of a walkoff, and the second contest 3-1.
We spoke with Ian after his heroic afternoon. Two RBI hits including his walkoff double. He talks about the fight of his squad and how that will play to their advantage going into the postseason. pic.twitter.com/q8lkl7kJ2o
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 3, 2024
Game 1:
The action for game one began in the bottom of the second inning. Nick Thurstan led off the inning with a double to left for the Greendogs. Thurstan was also the starting pitcher for the Greendogs and this extra base hit allowed him to help his own cause. He was pinch run for by Jacob Lam who would go on to score later in the inning and the Greendogs were up 1-0 early.
Thurstan was sharp early on, not surrendering a run through three innings, allowing his squad to build on the early lead.
Thomas LaRocco led off the third for the Greendogs. LaRocco, who was also the team’s leadoff batter, proved why he belonged at the top of the order, crushing a double to center field after fouling off multiple tough pitches. Three batters later, with two outs, catcher Anthony Toto took a ball the other way for a two-out single to right field to give the Greendogs an early 2-0 lead.
Despite their bats going cold early, the Storm were helped by their starting pitcher Chris Patanjo. Patanjo was able to give them four innings of work, only allowing two runs to score. This gave the Storm a chance to finally pounce on Thurstan in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the deficit at a very manageable two runs.
Emil Ramirez had a dominant day at the dish, and it started as he led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to left. It looked like once again the Storm were going to stall out as Thurstan was able to retire the following two batters. However, Mike Piotrowski worked a nine pitch walk, giving his team new life.
The following batter was Ian Cruz who hit a ground ball in the left hole of the infield. Lam was able to keep the ball in the infield, but everyone was safe and the Storm were on the board. The following batter, Conroy Miller kept the rally going, driving in Piotrowski with a bloop single to the left side and after four innings, the score was tied up at two runs apiece.
Ramirez relieved Patanjo to begin the fifth and fired a scoreless inning despite a two-out double from Blake Ferraiolo. This was Ferraiolo’s second double of the game, but both times he was left stranded on second base.
Lam relieved Thurstan to begin the fifth after Greendog coaches saw the Storm were beginning to figure out Thurstan. At the moment, this seemed to be the correct move as Lam fired a scoreless fifth with two strikeouts and heading into the final inning, the score was still tied up at 2-2.
Thurstan led off the top of the sixth for the Greendogs and once again had a productive at-bat, drawing a leadoff walk. This time, since he was no longer pitching he was able to run for himself and this paid dividends. Thurstan would steal both second and third. This put the pressure on Ramirez, causing him to balk, allowing Thurstan to cross the plate giving the Greendogs a 3-2.
With Lam pitching great this game appeared to be all but over. However, the resilient Storm had other ideas. Lukas Hamilton led the inning off with a blast to left field for a triple, putting the tying run only 75 feet away. After a failed bunt attempt from Chirs Collins, Piotrowski came to the plate with one out.
Tie game!! Great AB from Mike Piotrowski to tie this game at 3 with one out. pic.twitter.com/lMktpWFTdM
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 3, 2024
Once again Piotrowski gave an excellent at-bat, fouling off three pitches before hitting a double, plating Hamilton and the Storm had this game tied up. Next up, Cruz stepped up with a chance to be the hero. “Just get a hit,” was all Cruz had on his mind. The young, dangerous lefty bat proved that the moment was not too big for him, hitting a line drive to right field that fell in for the game-winning hit, as the Storm celebrated as Piotrowski crossed home plate, securing the 4-3 victory.
Cruz said that the resilience that his squad demonstrated in this game paints a clear picture, that they are not a team to mess with in the playoffs.
“It shows that we have a chance to win the championship,” Cruz said. “We’ll make it far.”
Game 2:
Miller retires all three batters to win the game. LI Storm Blue sweeps the doubleheader, winning the second game by a score of 3-1. pic.twitter.com/PVL1Q9QQ2A
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 3, 2024
The Storm were able to carry over their offensive output in the second half of game one to the first half of game two. Three consecutive singles in the top of the first inning by Michael Zangari, Jackson Foley and Ramirez allowed them to take an early 1-0 lead. However, Greendogs’ starter Ryan Bodt was able to bear down, and stranded Foley and Ramirez in scoring position to limit the damage.
This offensive output would continue in the second, as Antonio Impennato hit a one-out single to spark the rally. Patanjo would then make a contribution at the plate, hitting a base hit up the middle. A walk drawn from Miller would load up the bases with the top of the order coming to bat.
However, once again Bodt would lock in, as he retired Cruz and Zangari to get out of the pickle, keeping his team in the game.
In the third, the Storm would break through. Foley remained hot, leading the inning off with a triple to left-center. Ramirez would also stay hot, driving in Foley on a base hit to the left side, giving the Storm a 2-0 lead. Next, Hamilton would hit a sacrifice fly, driving in Ramirez who had stolen second and third base, giving the Storm a nice 3-0 lead.
This early lead would be in good hands with Hamilton on the mound. He would have a no-hitter going through the first four innings, the Greendogs simply had no answers for him.
Hamilton said that he told himself to just pound the zone today, and when he got ahead in counts he knew he could keep the Greendogs off their toes by mixing in some offspeed pitches.
“Just throw strikes today,” Hamilton said. “And mixing some curveballs, knuckleballs…”
Luckily, the Greendogs were able to manufacture a much needed run in the bottom of the third. Jack Broderick worked an eight pitch walk to lead off the inning. The following batter was Michael Graziadei who would ground out to the left side. This was productive since Broderick was now on second base after a stolen base, so Graziadei’s out was able to advance Broderick to third base.
The Storm trusted their pitcher and decided to sacrifice an out for a run when LaRocco hit a ground ball to Zangari at short, as Zangari opted to get the easy out at first and the score was now 3-1 in favor of the Storm.
The next threat came in the bottom of the fifth when Michael LoGerfo led off with a walk. LoGerfo relieved Bodt in the top half of the inning so he was able to be pinch run for by Thurstan who had made the last out for the Greendogs. Unfortunately, Thurstan got a poor read when Bodt hit a ball to center as the Storm were able to execute the rare 8-6 putout to get Thurstan out at second.
Hamilton!! He records his two biggest outs of the game to get out of the 5th. The no-hitter is gone but the lead is not, the Storm lead 3-1 heading into the final inning. pic.twitter.com/hc7uKKQPiM
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 3, 2024
Next up was Broderick who was able to get on base again, this time with a base hit to the right side, breaking up the no-hitter. At this point, Hamilton knew that he needed to get an out, and he did just that, retiring the next two Greendog batters to escape the jam.
LoGerfo threw a scoreless sixth, setting his team up for a potential walkoff in the bottom of the frame. After Lam walked, Ferraiolo hit a ground ball right back to Hamilton, who booted the throw to second and everyone was safe.
The Storm then called to the bullpen, bringing in Miller who needed to remain composed with the winning run at the plate and nobody out. Miller would do just that, retiring the following three batters in order, winning the game for the Storm as they swept the doubleheader.
Miller said that with runners on base he opted to focus on his fastball. He knew that his defense was going to be able to make plays behind him if the Greendogs put it in play.
“I trust my defense,” Miller said.
The Storm finish the regular season with an 11-4-1 record, while the Greendogs fall to 8-6-2. It has yet to be announced who each team will be facing in the postseason, but both will be ready and both proved today that they are both competitive, well-rounded ball clubs.
Miller knows that his team is capable of winning it all, they just need to take it one game at a time.
“The mindset is to win,” Miller said. “We just got to take it one win at a time and just play our game.”
