by Joe Bello
Dan Santopietro following his dominant preformance on the mound to help his team capture the championship. pic.twitter.com/KCM9cm9RN8
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 9, 2024
Giac Squad was crowned champions of the LI Boys of Summer 14u National Division on Saturday night. They took on Merrick Mayhem Kalkau on what was a very cold night at Eisenhower Park.
They captured the trophy with an 11-3 victory, backed by a complete game effort by their starting pitcher Dan Santopietro.
Santopietro went 6 innings while allowing 5 hits, 3 walks, 3 runs and notching 4 strikeouts.
Giac Squad’s Richie Oakley drove in 2 of his team’s 11 going 2 for 4 while scoring 2 times also.
The action started in the top of the 2nd inning, where Giac Squad scored on an error by the third baseman to make it 1-0. Next Vance Palmer drew a bases loaded walk to drive in the second run for his team, extending the lead to 2.
Then on a controversial play, Matt Grimpel drove in 2 runs on a bunt, one of them being an unearned run. This gave Giac Squad a 4-0 lead.
The score would be the same until the 5th inning, where Giac Squad would extend their lead. Jack Muran walked to lead the inning off, then stole second, and got to third on a flyout before scoring on a passed ball.
This would end Mayhem starting pitcher Jack McManus’ day. He pitched well, using his slider and fastball to keep hitters off balance. His final line was 4.1 innings pitched, allowing 3 hits, 4 walks and 2 earned runs while striking out 5.
Ballgame over, Giac Squad wins 11-3 over Mayhem to capture the @liboysofsummer 14u National Championship! pic.twitter.com/ZNTmOAqYoT
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 9, 2024
As the inning continued, back-to-back doubles by Adrian Pinto and Seamus Ryan would give Giac Squad another run to make it 6-0.
Then Oakley ripped a 2 RBI single down the right field line to extend their lead to 8-0.
Santopietro took the mound in the 5th only allowing 2 base runners at that point, on a walk and an error.
But the Mayhem finally got some offense going, as they had three consecutive singles to start the inning.
Quillan Florio had an RBI single to drive in the first run of the game for the Mayhem.
Then with the bases loaded, McManus would drive in a run on a fielder’s choice to make it a 8-2 ballgame.
In the 6th, Giac Squad would add another run on a dropped fly ball to make it a 9-2 game.
Mayhem answered back in the bottom half of the inning scoring one of their own on Brady Kalkou’s RBI single.
In the top of the 7th, the Giac Squad ended things due to the 8 runs after 5 innings mercy rule.
They scored one on an error, then an infield hit for Jack Muran drove in the 11th run and ended the contest.
Axcess Baseball spoke to Santopietro after the game concluded.
“I thought that I just threw strikes and let my defense help me out” He said, “I jammed them up on my fastball.” He had praise for his team’s offense as well, “The hitting was very good today, all around.”
Today concluded the fall ball season for the Giac Squad, as they beat the No. 1 seeded team in the semifinals and then stormed past Mayhem to take home the trophy.
