by Trevor Dugan
The Huskies spoke to Axcess after their championship victory at Diamond in the Pines @liboysofsummer pic.twitter.com/bf7d9N9jWH
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 10, 2024
The South Shore Elite and Long Island Huskies met at Diamond in the Pines Saturday evening to decide the champion of the 16u Boys of Summer Fall Division.
Both teams comfortably won their respective playoff games Saturday morning at Brentwood State Park to set up this championship matchup. After a layoff of several hours between games as well as a location change, the championship began at 5:00 P.M.
Both teams entered the championship with just one loss on the season, but the Elite were the road team and batted first. The Huskies sent out Chase McQuade (Farmingdale 2027) to start on the mound, who pitched a scoreless top of the first.
The bottom of the first saw Robert Brisette take the mound for the Elite. After a single by Matt Trabulsi, the Elite second baseman advanced to second then attempted to steal third. Trabulsi scored the first run of the game when the throw down to third sailed into the outfield, making it 1-0 Huskies.
McQuade provided the Huskies with a very quick shutdown inning as he struck out the side in the top of the second. He would finish with four strikeouts in his 3.1 innings pitched.
Brisette settled in for a scoreless second inning, striking a batter out and picking off a runner at first with an impressive move to finish off the scoreless inning. He would pitch four innings for the Elite, striking out two batters and allowing just two earned runs.
It looked as though the Elite were putting something together after two straight singles to start the third inning. However, clutch pitching by McQuade avoided any damage. One runner was picked off and caught in a rundown, followed by back to back groundouts to snuff out the rally and keep the score at 1-0 Huskies.
The Huskies got two more runs in the bottom of the third, which would prove to be their final runs of the game. One run came in on a perfectly executed first and third play, during which the runner on first base got caught in a rundown, allowing the runner on third to score. Next, McQuade helped himself by lacing an RBI double into the right field corner to make it 3-0 Huskies.
Huskies SP McQuade helps himself with an RBI double down the line
Huskies 3 – Elite 0
End third pic.twitter.com/17PLHiljH6— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 9, 2024
The Elite would get one of those runs back in the top of the fourth, when Chris Amadeo (East Meadow 2026) showed off his baserunning ability with a clean steal of home plate, cutting the Huskies’ lead to 3-1
Following the steal of home, Carter Eisenberg (Northport 2027) entered in relief for the Huskies. The sidearm throwing Eisenberg would pitch the remainder of the game, allowing no runs and striking out three batters.
The dramatic third inning was followed by a scoreless fourth, and the pitching on both sides had the game moving along quickly. In the bottom of the fifth, the Elite brought in Dylan Alt (Seaford 2026) in relief of Brisette. The hard throwing right-hander looked sharp, and did not allow a run in his two innings pitched.
The Huskies win the 16u Fall championship on the back of some dominant pitching
FINAL: Huskies 3 – Elite 1 pic.twitter.com/ac24UQiTzG
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 9, 2024
Heading into the seventh, the Elite trailed 3-1 and needed a rally if they wanted a championship victory. Eiseneberg made a tough play on a ground ball back to the mound to get the first out, but two batters would reach on infield singles to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. After a meeting at the mound with the Huskies’ infield and head coach, Eisenberg got the final out to earn the save and a 3-1 championship victory.
The Huskies finish the season with a record of 11-1, while the South Shore Elite finish 10-2.
