In a Downtown Little League match last Wednesday that kept the fans on the edge of their seats, the first-place Barons played the Grays on a humid, summer day. Ryan Porcaro of the Barons led off with a walk after a full count of pitches from Zach Tractenberg of the Grays. During the next batter’s stint at the plate, which ended in a strikeout for Tractenberg, Porcaro stole second.
Tommy Caruso of the Barons ended up with a base on balls. Clyde Huibregtse of the Barons took one for the team, and Porcaro took advantage of the situation by stealing home. Caruso stole during the next at-bat (a groundout to short), and Tyler Rohan of the Barons walked with two outs. Then Rohan stole second as Caruso also stole home on a passed ball, but Tractenberg struck out the next batter.
Down 2-0, the Grays started a rally with a hard grounder with Mikio LaCapra. Thomas Bate of the Grays cranked a double way out to left field, driving in LaCapra. Instead of a double play, Bate advanced to third, making it easier for Moses Rubin of the Grays to bring him in with a hard grounder. Josh Fish of the Barons forced out Rubin at second. Simon Curtis-Ginsberg of the Grays gave the ball a ride to deep left center, and all three runners advanced two bases in a wild series of overthrows, scoring Bate and Banks.
Will Best and Aidan Rogers of the Grays each took a base on balls, and Devin Minnihan of the Barons relieved Porcaro on the mound with two outs and bases loaded the next batter cranked one to right field for a 2-RBI triple but Minnihan struck out the next batter.
Next, Sal Derogatis of the Grays led off with a walk after a full count, but Minnihan threw out Derogatis as he headed for second. Bate had two strikes on him but still managed to send one out to center, where Rohan fielded it on one bounce and kept him to a single. Tractenberg also brought the count to 3 and 2, but reached first on a walk and was stranded there, holding the Grays to a 6-2 lead.
Despite a two-strike leadoff single by Banks in the bottom of the third, the Barons improved. Isaac Longobardi of the Barons in right smothered the ball and held Banks to one base. Caruso made the first out, and Minnihan retired the next two batters with strikeouts.
In the top of the fourth, Caruso, the biggest rabble-rouser on the team, motivated his teammates when he reached first and advanced to second on an error. The next batter grounded out to Aidan Rogers of the Grays at short, but Rohan continued the action with a nice bullet to centerfield that landed him on first, and then Fish took a base on balls. Curtis-Ginsberg struck out the next batter, though, and the score was 6-3.
At the top of the next inning, Justin Wong of the Barons was able to reach first base on an infield grounder when he beat the throw from second. Curtis-Ginsberg struck out the next batter, but Porcaro was hit by a pitch. Noah Berrie of the Barons walked to load the bases, and Rubin stepped in to close the game for the Grays. Caruso responded to the pitching change by sending a searing grounder to short, which took a high bounce, allowing both runners to score. The next batter got a second out, and during Randy Higgins’ of the Barons at-bat, Berrie excited the Barons’ fans by stealing home to tie the game at 6-6.
For their last licks, the Barons started off with a strikeout, but when Fish took a base on balls, the team hoped to earn the go-ahead run. Their hopes were dashed, however, when Rubin struck out the next two batters.
In the bottom of the sixth, the first batter grounded out to Minnihan on the mound. Minnihan kept up the pace by striking out batters until the third out, keeping the score at a tied 6-6 because the six-inning DLL games do not go into overtime.
