The make-up game of last Thursday’s rainout was an exciting match between Felix Millan Little League of Harlem (1-0) and the Downtown Little League Minors’ tournament team (0-0). D.L.L. pitcher Kai Glick threw searing heat for five innings to advance the young team to the next tier.
His first opponent hit the ball back to him at the mound, and he threw it swiftly to Valentino Rosa at first base for the first out. Glick struck out the next batter, but Jose Vasquez got on base on an error, moving over to second. F.M.’s next batter, J. Toledo, hit a rocket through the hole past James Borrelli at second base, but in a Matrix move with his glove, he snagged it and sent it towards Rosa for out three. In the bottom of the inning, against Vasquez on the mound, the D.L.L. team went down one-two-three.
Glick continued to pour it on in the second, fielding Martin’s grounder for out one and striking out the next batter looking, for out two. P. Quinones, F.M.’s catcher, hit a sharp grounder past short for the first hit of the game, but was caught stealing when Downtown’s Niall Gallagher beamed one from behind the plate to teammate Borrelli at second for out three.
The Downtown team struggled in the bottom of the inning as well, as Vasquez struck out batters one and two and fielded a grounder for out three.
In the top of the third, Glick struck out J. Encarnación to start off. A. Viera grounded to Dante Secada-Oz at first base for out two. J. Santiago had a nice at-bat, fouling off a couple (including one that popped out of Glick’s glove on the tumble, after an impressive hustle along the first base line) and then sending one over first base into right field for a single. But he, too, was caught stealing second, when Gallagher whipped one to Michael Bogdanos, who was covering second.
Downtown’s bats woke up in the third, starting with Gallagher’s crank up the third base line for a double (and Downtown’s first hit of the game.) Nicky Leong connected with the ball and sent it to short, causing the defender to hesitate in case Gallagher left the bag. As he winged it towards Martin at first, Gallagher easily reached third. Borrelli grounded to the pitcher, almost beating the throw but allowing Gallagher to score as the first baseman, perhaps thinking that was the third out, threw the ball down after tagging the bag. Glick walked and stole second, but was stranded there as Vasquez struck out the next batter for out three, and Downtown was ahead 1-0.
In A. Rosado’s at-bat, Ortiz stole home on a wild pitch, tying up the score and receiving the honor of scoring a run without a hit. Rosado popped out to Glick, who quickly turned to double up the runner on first, but he hadn’t moved far. So to end the scoring, Glick struck out the next opponent for out three.
In the bottom of the fourth, the first batter grounded out to second, but Bogdanos punched one to centerfield for a double. Vasquez struck out the next batter for out two, but Jackson Vertucci’s seeing-eye grounder not only sent Bogdanos home but took him to second. Gallagher’s bloop single got him to first, and Devin Minnihan’s walk loaded up the bases. Elan Halpern had a great at-bat, confidently swinging and showing her usual lack of fear in a crunch situation. On a wild pitch, Gallagher jumped into third base as Vertucci stole home, edging the team ahead. But the scoring ended at three when the batter wasn’t able to connect to Vasquez’s pitches.
Glick finished off a fantastic outing by striking out the side in the top of the fifth to keep the score 3-1.
D.L.L. closer Spencer Kiehl stepped in for Glick in the top of the sixth for Felix Millan Little League’s last licks, and was ahead in the count 0-2 when his next pitch nicked Ortiz, who took his position at first base. Vasquez had a nice shot into left field, which was played well by Leong but the runner was able to advance to second when his teammate lost track of the throw. During Hazelwood’s at-bat, Ortiz tried to make it home from third on a wild pitch, but this time, his aggressive base-running did not pay off. In a heads-up play, Kiehl stormed home as Douglass Stapler was tearing off his catcher’s mask to locate the ball. Stapler coolly underhanded it to Kiehl, who tagged Ortiz for out one and prevented F.M. from scoring in a key play. Then Kiehl finished off the rest of the side with his trademark accuracy for two consecutive strikeouts. As the last batter went down looking, the Downtown team and their fans cheered an amazing victory, battled not on home turf but on a diamond more than 10 miles away from home. The final score was 3-1.
In addition to the twelve players who dressed for the game, the D.L.L. Tournament Team has other talented players on the active roster. Tyler Rohan (fresh off the D.L.), Jackson Kaufman, Jonathan Sandella, Joe Torres and Matthew Burnett have all enthusiastically attended the practices and have been a valuable part of the team’s preparation for the tourney.
