Rookie Ball
Mets vs. Nationals
The Mets hosted the Nationals at the Battery Park City ballfields this past Saturday. The Nationals were led by the perpetual motion of Devin Minnihan who made defensive plays all over the field. The Nationals’ power hitters included Olivia Sawyer and Sophia Marino. Nico Capparelli paced his team with clutch hitting. Met fanatics were inspired by line drives rocketing off of Sophia Savino’s hot bat. Met infielder James Stinnett’s defensive highlights included a putout at 2nd base, while Lyndsey Horowitz displayed her fielding skills at 1st base. Undaunted by windblown Wiffle balls, Met slugger Palmer Menken consistently stroked hits.
Rockies vs. Mariners
The Rockies played the Mariners in an action-packed game. Carlos Richie and Kevin Wu were both power hitters for the Rockies— Carlos hit a grand slam and Kevin added a key double late in the game. In the field, Rockie Jonathon Sandella made an amazing play when he quickly fielded the ball and made an accurate throw to Carlos at first base to end a Mariner’s rally. For the Mariners, Max Higgins did a fine job behind the plate and added a clutch hit late in the game. Trevor Maruffi added some power with several strong hits, including a smash to left field. Sebastian Kim-Rehr also showed amazing batting form, which paid off with several critical singles.
Junior Minors
Cubs vs. Dodgers
In a game exemplary of solid team play and come-from-behind grittiness, the Cubs managed to eek out a victory in the bottom of the 6th inning. The Cubs opened the game with brilliant hitting and base-running by Elan Halpern, Graham Nelson, Sammy Marciano, Dante Secada-Oz, and Margaret Matthews. The Dodgers clawed their way back a few runs per inning capping off their comeback effort with a 4-run 6th inning that gave them the lead.
It was the bottom of the Cubs batting order that saved the day, with a torrent of base hits led by Layla Costello, Alexander Komanoff, Koko Drabla, Will Pangburn, and Mikalea Halpern. Lily Meier singled for a game-tying R.B.I., followed by Elan Halpern’s game winning R.B.I. single. Both teams put up valiant efforts in this thoroughly exciting game.
Devil Rays vs. Red Sox
The Devil Rays and the Red Sox played an exciting game of baseball with each team exhibiting excellent offensive and defensive moves. The teams were very evenly matched in skills and ability. During the first and second innings, the Devil Rays rallied and scored runs by Ian Malcolm (2 runs), Aden Haddad-Salah (2 runs), Jack McGreevy, Moses Rubin, Jim Huynh, Taylor White, and Austin Chin. Defensive highlights included Noah Berry’s catch of a high fly ball in the fourth inning, ending it. In the fifth inning, good defensive plays were executed by Jack McGreevy to hold off further action by the Red Sox at second base, as well as by Aden Haddad-Salah, who tagged out a Red Sox player at first base, and Taylor White, who tagged out a Red Sox player at second base. In the sixth inning, Dante Vega caught a high fly ball and threw it to Jack McGreevy, who tagged a Red Sox player out at first base.
The Red Sox also played a game with many highlights. At the top of the first inning, Ben Norrito had a R.B.I.-double, and at the bottom of the first inning, Alex Tullock caught a pop up for an out, and threw it to first base for another out. At the top of the third inning, Gaberial Quinones hit a 2-R.B.I. home run. In the top of the fourth inning, Thomas Base hit a R.B.I.-single. In the top of the fifth inning, Marcus Chan hit a double and made a good slide into second base. Sarah Miles hit a single; Meryl Chan hit a R.B.I.-single, Gabe Quinones hit a single. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Brody Sharoff caught a high line drive for an out and a ground ball to first for a second out.
Indians vs Marlins
The undefeated Indians are cutting a swath through the Junior Minors and leaving much devastation in their wake. Saturday night’s twilight victim was another young squad, the high-spirited Marlins. Every member of the Indians had at least two hits and scored a run. Offensive bell-weathers Charlotte “Big Stick” Youklis, Nathan “ The Tornado” Goldberg, “Lightning” Jake Turner, Aidan “The Flash” Rogers, Niall “Tomahawk” Gallagher, Nick-the-Quick Leong, Liam “The Kur-” Fuerst and Valentino Rosa were all four-for-four on the day.
To the team and their coaches immense credit the Marlins stayed “game” throughout and broke through for several runs in the middle stanzas on fine hitting by William Watt, Tommy Burns, Tyler Kraehling, William S. and Ambrose, who scored twice. But a rash of untimely K’s, as well as fine fielding by the Indians’ Ian O’Conner and Max Ripps, prevented any sustained rallies.
Defensive stars of the game for the Indians: Liam Fuerst who had three unassisted put outs and Niall Gallagher who made a nifty play at the plate to nip a streaking Alexander Hall. “True Grit” award goes to the Marlin’s Tommy ‘Tough-Guy” Burns who returned from a painful injury to finish the game and lead the offense going 2-for-2.
Pirates vs. Yankees
On a beautiful morning at the fields this Sunday the Pirates and Yankees played a spirited and well-played ball game featuring solid defense and timely hitting. The visiting Yankees continued their torrid hitting, paced by Spencer Kiehl who went 3 for 3 and Michael Bogdanos who went 2 for 3 with three runs batted in. Also contributing for the Yankees was Catherine Kemer, Rick Mortenson, and Dylan Milesall, who all collected R.B.I. hits.
After scoring two runs in the first, the Pirates exploded in the second and collected 7 consecutive hits to start the frame. The inning ended at that point with no outs recorded. The Pirates prodigious attack was paced by James Borrelli, who went 3 for 3 including a triple and two runs scored, and Justin Wong, who had two hits, including a homerun. The Manheim twins (Mak & Tai), Jackson Vertucci, and Kaleo Grant paced the offense with two hits apiece. In the end, the Pirates took the victory.
He was stranded there as Joseph Dudley struck out and Alexandra Gottlieb and Trevor Goldstein grounded out to end the top of the first
Nationals vs. Giants
On a blustery Sunday, the undefeated Giants hosted the Nationals, finishing just before the wind brought storm clouds overhead. William Goldstein led off, cranking the ball to left field for a stand-up double. Tyler Rohan, fresh off the D.L., smacked a double to start off the Giants’ hitting streak. Josh Steinberg, Mateo Flores, Elias Griffin, Simon Curtis-Ginsberg and Sam Liberman followed with singles (R.B.I. for Flores, Griffin and Liberman). Dario Flores also doubled into left field in the bottom of the first, bringing the score to 5-0. National Ariana Howard hit a single in the second but the team did not score. Giant Sam Liberman caught a fly and threw the ball to first, making a double play to end the inning. Jacob Roter led off for the Giants with a single. Dante Stoeri-D’Arrigo, Clyde Huibregtse and Josh Steinberg also made it to first base, but two strikeouts and a nice play at third ended the inning with only one of them crossing home plate.
Luke Marable started another rally for the Giants with a single. Elias Griffin, fresh off last week’s grand slam against the Dodgers, tattooed a ball to center field for a 2-run homer. Luke Dilworth, who up until the first inning had been batting 1.000 (10 for 10) this season, got back into the swing with a single. Dario Flores doubled, followed by Sam Liberman and Jacob Roter’s R.B.I. singles. The Giants’ four runs in the third brought the score to 10-0.
Matt Epstein rose to the challenge, reaching first base for the Nationals. Aidan Ostermaier’s sacrifice single advanced Matt to second. Gideon McCarty was out at first, but still brought Matt home for the Nationals’ first and only run of the game.
Even with three great defensive plays by the Nationals, the Giants were able to add another five runs in the fourth, with three consecutive singles, a 2-R.B.I. triple by Mateo Flores, and another 2-run homer by Elias Griffin (who must have eaten his Wheaties that morning). Matt Levine, dragged to the game from the Carnival on the Hudson, pinch-hit in the fourth for a single, but was thrown out at second on a great play by Ariana Howard. Alex Gottlieb, who played well defensively at first base for the Nationals, and Trevor Goldstein hit singles in the fifth, and Eli Silver and Sal Derogatis hit singles in the sixth, but the Nationals remained stranded on the bases. Mateo Flores kept up his hitting streak with a 3-run homer in the fifth, which followed five consecutive singles by his teammates. Despite the lopsided victory, the Nationals players and coaches won in spirit, as they consistently cheered on each player throughout the game.
Minors
Astros vs. Marlins
Sean Mcgowan took the mound as the Astros hosted the Marlins in what proved to be a pitchers duel for most of the game. Sean retired the first six of the Marlins in order including 4 K’s and a great catch from Astro first baseman Matthew Weldon. Marlin ace Zachary Kraeling proved nearly as dominant, giving up only one run on one double from Lindsay Holcomb and striking out 3. Marlin catcher Angelo made a great throw to Spencer Brownstein to end a stolen base attempt by the Astros’ Owen O’Keefe, who had drawn a walk. McGowan retired the order in the top of the 3rd with help from Bryan Gomez, who snagged a line drive from Angelo. The Astros opened the bottom with a lead off walk by Matthew Weldon, who was driven in by hits from Bryan Gomez and an R.B.I. single from Sarah McGowan.
With the game locked in a 2 – 0 nail biter, Marlin mid-reliever Isaac Easton flamed the first Astro in the bottom of the 4th. Then, Lindsay Holcomb smacked her second hit of the day and Miranda Kalish, Milo Schreier, Matthew Weldon, and Bryan Gomez drew walks. Wyatt Gray drove in another run with a single. Astro catcher Sarah McGowan provided the insurance runs for brother Sean’s pitching by hitting a line drive to the fence for a base clearing grand slam.
The Marlins proved that they would not go quietly when Isaac Easton pounded a triple into deep center to be driven home by Dan Chin, who crushed another one to deep center. The Astros escaped further damage when McGowan snagged a line drive from Shai Goodman, stranding Noam Saul who had reached on a walk. The pitching duel ended with Isaac Easton retiring the side in the top of the 5th. Astro closer Lindsay Holcomb dashed any hopes of a last inning comeback by retiring the order with 2 K’s.
Red Sox vs. Dodgers
The Red Sox defeated the Dodgers by a score of 8-2. Alex Hirsch made two good plays at second base for the Red Sox and Justin Wenig pitched two strong innings in relief. Rafael Santore pitched well for the Dodgers.
Athletics v Devil Rays
The Athletics met the Devil Rays for the second time this season. The A’s won on strong pitching and timely hitting. Starting pitcher Daniel Komanoff led the effort with six strikeouts while yielding only one walk. Ike Lang, Cooper Weaver, and Trevor Moynagh Cronin sparked the offense with two hits apiece. The Devil Rays also turned in some good performances, with Gabriel Macias, Asher Baron, and Egan McClave getting their first hits of the season, and catcher Billy Byrne twice tagging out runners in two close plays at the plate.
Mets vs. Angels
The Mets brought their A game this weekend. An offensive explosion combined with solid pitching brought the Mets a 12 – 5 victory over the feisty Angels. The Mets 10-hit attack was lead by Bryan Burns, who went 3 for 3, with 2 R.B.I. Connor Weitz went deep for a long triple, while Nicholas Fils-Aime found his stroke with a laser shot of his own for a double. James Demsak got on the board with his first base hit of the season. Spenser Grabow added 3 runs on 3 walks. The Mets pitching effort was led by starter Robbie Martino, who threw three innings of no hit, one run ball. Closing out the game was Michael Klusendorf who struck out the side in each of his two innings on the hill. For the Angels, Adam Kester denied the Mets a no hitter with a solid base hit in their last at bat. This started a late rally that netted two runs for the halos. Dontree scored a pair of runs.
Red Sox vs. Marlins
Runs were hard to come by Wednesday night when two fine pitching staffs met in a classic duel at the Coleman Oval Ballfield. Hurlers Louis Moreschi, Justin Wenig and Will Merrill led the Red Sox to a narrow 4-2 victory over the Marlins and its triumvirate of throwers: Zak Kraeling, Noam Saul and Isaac Easton. After walking to start the game, lead-off hitter Jack Anderson scored to give the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead. Neither team scored again until the third inning, when the Marlins’ Dan Chin doubled and then scored to tie the game after successive walks to Kraeling, Easton and Veronica Chmiel. With the bases still loaded and only one out, Merrill took the mound for the Red Sox. He retired the next two batters to kill the Marlins’ rally.
The Red Sox immediately recaptured the lead in the fourth inning. After Luca Leeser and Alex Hirsh hit back-to-back singles, Laszlo Horvath drew a walk to load the bases. Leeser scored from third on a single by Tyler Page. Saul was able to retire the next two batters and, in the bottom of the inning, the Marlins re-knotted the score when Chin’s second hit of the game drove in Angelo Monzon. In the fifth inning, the Red Sox reclaimed the lead for good when Dylan Prior walked and scored on Louis Moreschi’s double. The Sox added an insurance run when Leeser’s single drove in Moreschi.
With Saul having now thrown the maximum number of allowable pitches, the Marlins brought in Easton to close out the game. He pitched brilliantly, striking out the last five batters he faced, to keep his team in the game. The Marlins threatened in their final at bat, but two defensive plays by third baseman Tyler Page preserved the Red Sox victory. First, he turned a 5-3 double play, catching a fly ball in short leftfield and throwing to Wenig at first base to double up a Marlin runner. Then, with runners at first and second, he backhanded a hard grounder by Chin and stepped on third base to end the game.
Majors
Rockies vs. Dodgers
Josh Blaney and Justin Valenzuela each struck out six over three innings as the Rockies topped the Dodgers 6-2. The pitching was helped by strong defense up the middle as Rockies’ catcher Eamon Gallagher threw out two runners trying to steal and shortstop Eddie Owens making acrobatic plays. Charles Brillo-Sonnino had two hits and a key R.B.I., and Leighton Brillo-Sonnino got on base twice. The Dodgers were led by Oren Shore, who hit a booming double, and Jack Finio, who was on base twice. In a dramatic finale to the first inning, Dodger catcher Elias Sosa blocked the plate and tagged out a Rockies runner trying to score.
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