Game Recaps
Long Island Survives to Force Winner-Take-All Game Saturday
Long Island forces a game 3 in the @HamptonsLeague semifinal and our Player of the Game is winning pitcher, Sal Zafonte. The Cortland lefty tossed 3.1 innings in relief, surrendering only two hits. pic.twitter.com/884jQyzvsE — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2018 The defending HCBL champions were playing for their season Friday afternoon. Long Island lost its opening playoff game to Westhampton at home Thursday, meaning a loss would spoil its opportunity to repeat. But Friday’s game went much differently than Thursday’s and the Road Warriors proved deserving of their name. Neal Heaton’s squad never trailed in a 6-2 victory at Aviator Field to even up the semifinal series at one game apiece. Westhampton sent their best starting pitcher to the hill in Tyler Thorington. The leag...
Stefl Shines, Riverhead Wins First Playoff Game in Six Years
Chris Stefl (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11K) on the 4-0 Game 1 victory for Riverhead pic.twitter.com/wFpm5htluy — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 26, 2018 For the first time in Riverhead Tomcat history, the team earned the top seed in the HCBL playoffs. The Tomcats won their last seven games of the regular season and beat Long Island by one point in the standings to secure home field advantage. No team on the Island was hotter coming into the playoffs then Riverhead and it showed Thursday. Chris Stefl blanked the fifth ranked Sag Harbor Whalers through seven innings in route to a 4-0 victory. John Galanoudis elected to use Stefl over Tyler Henry for game 1. Henry leads all Riverhead starters in ERA, a mark of 2.31 that ranked third in the league during the regular season. The risk pai...
Lights-Out Pitching & Warantz HR Lead 17u LI Titans to Victory
Player of the game Spencer Warantz humbly gives credit to his teammates and discusses their solid 2-0 team victory. Warantz delivered the biggest hit of the game with a Solo HR to lead off the 4th inning. pic.twitter.com/eCuQXWa4og — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 25, 2018 The sky was dark and gloomy. It seemed inevitable that rain would take a day of baseball away from the 17u LI Titans-Gutes and LI Baseball. Both teams were determined, however, to get one by Mother Nature and play their Boys of Summer matchup. Despite the weather, the Titans and LI Baseball put together a picturesque 7-inning game that embodied the beauty of the sport. A performance highlighted by powerful pitching outings. A wet ball seemed to have absolutely no effect on this game. LI Baseball starting pitch...
Seven East Coast Jays Pitchers Combine on No-Hitter
East Coast Jays defeat Oil City Bandits , 2-1, in a Boys of Summer 16U match up. Here’s HC Brian Derschowitz on the victory @liboysofsummer pic.twitter.com/IyTkjoEKQZ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 25, 2018 It was a tremendous day for the East Coast Jays pitching staff, using seven pitchers to throw a combined no hitter in a 2-1 victory over the Oil City Bandits. Jack Rand started off the game on the mound for the Jays, striking out two in his one inning of work. In the bottom half of the first, the Jays scored the only runs they would need off of Bandits’ starting pitcher, Dan Kelleher. Lucas Rubenstein worked a walk, and then worked his way over to third base after two passed balls. Philip Piro then worked a walk and stole second base. Kelleher then uncorked a wild pit...
Freda’s Bases Clearing Triple Breaks Open a 9-3 Win For Body Armor
Mike Freda following the 9-3 victory. He hit the bases clearing triple in the sixth to break the game open pic.twitter.com/ogUNiSt5iY — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 24, 2018 With the bases loaded, one out and Mike Freda at the plate, the game was at a critical point as the Body Armor were holding onto a 6-3 lead over the East End Aviators. Coax a double play and there would still be hope. Instead, the powerful catcher rippled one just inside the third-base line and it rolled all the way to the wall allowing all three base runners to score as he scampered all the way to third. “I was just sitting fastball, waiting and I drove it down the line,” said the rising sophomore at Hills West. The game was close up until that inning when the Titans put up four runs to essent...
Greene Walks Off for Riverhead in Late Season Thriller
The HCBL regular season comes to an end Monday, but there is no shortage of excitement in the games leading to the postseason. The four playoff teams were set in stone on Thursday and we saw a potential first-round matchup between third-place Sag Harbor (17-16-4) and second-place Riverhead (21-13-3) at Veterans Memorial Park. The Whalers seemed firmly in control throughout the afternoon, but reliance mixed in with a little bit of luck put the Tomcats on the top. Josh Greene capped off a five-run comeback inning with a walk-off double as Riverhead defeats Sag Harbor in an 8-7 classic that featured 27 hits. Before Sag Harbor made their mark in the ball game, Riverhead got on the scoreboard first. With three of the league’s top four hitters (in terms of batting average) sitting at second, thi...
Diamond Spikes and LIB Battle in a Pitcher’s Duel, Ends in 1-1 Tie
The Diamond Spikes battled Long Island Baseball Wednesday evening in a Boys of Summer Scout Division league matchup. Both teams struggled to put runs on the board in a game that ended in a 1-1 tie. The tale of the tape was the incredible pitching displayed by both sides. For the Diamond Spikes, southpaw Matt Leahy took the hill. Leahy pitched 5.2 innings, but was pulled with two outs in the top of the sixth after LIB’s Justin DeMaria and Jake Reyer hit back to back singles. Zach Grof came in relief to try to get his team out of the inning unscaved. With Grof on the mound, Demaria and Reyer advanced to second and third after a wild pitch. LIB’s four hitter Mike Scordo then drew a walk. With the based loaded, Anthony Dagnello stood strong in the box and got hit by a pitch to bring in the f...
Stars Shine Bright at LICBL’s All-Star Game
Vinny Rice (Farmingdale State) went 2-for-2 with a double and a triple pic.twitter.com/95gis0yAw0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 17, 2018 Don’t tell Mike Manetta it’s only an exhibition game. The SUNY Old Westbury rising sophomore hit a routine ground ball to second base with the tying run on third base and 2 outs in the ninth inning with the National All-Stars trailing 6-5 in the LICBL All-Star Game. The speedy left-handed batter busted it out of the box and beat the bang-bang play to tie the game at 6-6, which would ultimately be the final score. It was a microcosm of how the game was played, with both teams exchanging blows, big hits from both teams and no team taking greater than a two-run lead at any point. The hard-throwing Ryan Sandberg, who just transferred...
Thunder Get Revenge, Beat LI Baseball to Win Brian Moore Memorial Tournament
Player of the game Steve Proko threw a complete game for the win. pic.twitter.com/MqL1BDvuPG — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 15, 2018 3 days ago, Long Island Baseball demolished the Long Island Thunder 12-3 to open the 4th annual Brian Moore Memorial Baseball Tournament. Today, however, was an entirely different story. LI Baseball threatened early against Thunder starter Steve Proko. Proko struggled to find the zone early on, walking a pair of batters in the bottom of the first. However, he was able to work out of it. The teams traded a run apiece as both Proko and LIB starter Zach Zarra settled down nicely. Neither team had a discernible threat until the top of the 6th inning for the Thunder. Teddy Valenti led off the inning with a solo homerun to right field to give the L...
LI Thunder Cruise Past LIB, 8-3, To Advance in Brian Moore Memorial Tournament
The Long Island Thunder improved to 2-1 in the Brian Moore Memorial tournament Saturday evening in an all-around great team performance with an 8-3 victory over Long Island Baseball. After a scoreless inning and a half. The Thunder scored the first run of the game in the top of the second inning. Domenic Tuozzo lead the inning off with a single to left field and then he stole second base. With Tuozzo on second, Thomas Augeri hit a ground ball to the shortstop. The ground ball was fielded cleanly, but the shortstop under threw the first baseman which scored Tuozzo all the way from second base. After holding LIB scoreless in the top of the third inning the Thunder wasted no time adding insurance to their 1-0 lead. Anthony Gazzola led off the inning and got on base after getting hit by a pitc...
Offense Explodes for LIB Prime as they Take Down Farmingdale Greendogs
Nick Dagnello contributes 4 RBI in LIB Prime’s 8-0 five-inning win over the Farmingdale Greendogs in the Brian Moore Memorial Tournament pic.twitter.com/G1CVKqZl8P — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 13, 2018 As the Brian Moore Memorial Tournament continued, LIB Prime continued their winning ways as they defeated the Farmingdale Greendogs 8-0 in five innings, improving to 2-0 in the tournament. LIB Prime wasted no time in putting early runs on the board. In the first inning, leadoff man Paulie DePaulis reached base safely to start the game and two batters later Nick Dagnello drove him in to give Prime the quick 1-0 advantage. Two batters later Dominick Notarstefano drove in Dagnello with an opposite field triple adding to Prime’s lead. James Muscat followed with a single to d...
Henry Outduels Marzonie, Riverhead Takes Over Third in HCBL
Tyler Henry spoke to Justin Paura following Riverhead’s 1-0 victory over Sag Harbor in the Hamptons League pic.twitter.com/tTWqeA11YH — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 13, 2018 Tyler Henry came to Long Island all the way from Middletown, Ohio, about 700 miles away, just to pitch for the Riverhead Tomcats (16-12-3) in the HCBL. He got roughed up in his junior year at the University of Dayton, posting an ERA over 11 in 10 appearances. His luck has changed this summer after earning a role as a starter in John Galanoudis’ rotation and picking up his first win by pitching eight scoreless innings against North Fork on June 28. The 22-year-old was on the bump at home against the Sag Harbor Whalers (15-12-3) on Thursday in a battle for third place in the league. He showed his stuff...
