After beating the Monarchs in a playoff game on Tuesday, June 15, the Royal Giants were pumped to face the first place Barons in a semifinal match the following Thursday.
The Barons’ pitcher Ryan Porcaro took care of the leadoff batter, who went down on strikes. Henry Lilien took a base on balls, but Jack McGreevey’s crank to center was tracked and handled by Tyler Rohan for an exciting out two. And Porcaro finished the Giants off by striking out their fourth batter in the lineup.
In the bottom of the first, Porcaro led off with a walk and a stolen base. He advanced to third during Rohan’s groundout to Gabe Quinones at short. William Steere, on the mound for the Giants, struck out batter three, and Quinones struck again by gloving a liner to short for out three.
In the second inning, Porcaro retired the first batter with strikes. Will Sisson’s grounder to Devin Minnihan at third was well played, but his throw was a little short. Luckily, first baseman Clyde Huibregtse made the save with a difficult catch. Nicky Leong hit an impressive shot through centerfield for the Giants’ first hit. Max Ripps reached first on a fielding error, and Douglass Stapler took one for the team, loading up the bases. But Porcaro got the Barons out of a tough situation by pouncing on a ground ball to the mound for out three.
Steere struck out the Barons’ leadoff batter, and Quinones fielded another grounder successfully for out two. Noah Berrie took one for the team, but was stranded at first when Minnihan’s grounder to Steere ended the inning.
In the top of the third, Jacob Lawrence Kreiss took a base on balls after getting Porcaro up to a full count. Jack Steinberg reached first on a fielding error, stealing second during Alex Komanoff’s at-bat. Kreiss was caught while stealing third, however, for out one. Komanoff was called out on strikes, and the Barons’ Josh Fish fielded a grounder to short for out three, stranding Steinberg at second.
In the bottom of the inning, Fish led off with a walk, but Steere retired the next two batters with strikeouts. Although Justin Wong also took a base on balls, Steere left both batters on base when he struck out Max Dell-Thibodeau.
In the top of the fourth, Lilien took another base on balls and advanced to second when McGreevey grounded out to first for an unassisted out one. When Quinones grounded one to the mound, Porcaro scooped up the ball and threw it to Huibregtse for the second out. And for the first time this season, the Barons turned a 1-3-5 double play when Huibregtse fired the ball to Sharoff at third to nab Lilien.
In the bottom of the fourth, Porcaro reached first on a fielding error at second. Rohan’s blast through to centerfield landed him on second base and Porcaro on third. Tommy Caruso walked to load the bases. Huibregtse’s hit to McGreevey in centerfield looked like a typical Huibregtse RBI blast, fooling even Porcaro, who headed for home. Porcaro was then called out at third when McGreevey’s flung the ball to Leong at third for the double play. Sharoff took a base on balls, loading up the bases again, and Randy Higgins’ walk brought in the first and only run of the game. Berrie grounded out to Steere on the mound to end the inning.
The Barons took their defensive positions in the top of the fifth, Porcaro struck out batter one, and Fish caught Will Sisson’s fly to short. Leong reached first on an error, then advanced to second on the overthrow. But the Giants’ next batter grounded out to Nathan Goldberg and the Barons came to bat again.
In the bottom of the fifth, Stapler relieved Steere on the mound, striking out the leadoff batter. Fish reached first on an error, advancing to second on the overthrow, but a groundout and a strikeout ended the bottom of the fifth for the Barons, and the Giants grabbed their batting helmets. Berrie threw Stapler out at first, Yannick de Guchteneere took a base on balls and when Kreiss grounded to the mound, Porcaro snatched the ball and attempted to make a double play to end the inning and win the game. The second baseman wasn’t in place, however, and the ball rolled into the outfield. Jack Steinberg reached first on an error, and the bases were loaded for the Giants. But Porcaro shook off the errors, striking out the bottom of the order for out two.
Down 1-0, the Giants’ bench was fired up with bases loaded, and the top of the order at the plate. Porcaro wound up and sent a fastball to Graham Nelson. The batter connected and it seemed like Rohan lost sight of the ball for a brief moment but he then caught it safely in his glove for a clutch play to end the exciting game, handing Porcaro a full game shot-out and a 1-0 victory for the Barons.
The Barons will advance to the Downtown Little League finals
