Junior Minors Upper
Yankees vs. White Sox
In a thrilling game that went the full six innings between the Yankees and the White Sox, the Yankees drew first blood. Wiley Muchowski led off with a single—on his way to his third multi-hit game in a row, followed by Holden Higgins who ripped a double into centerfield. Jason Bogdanos then cleared the bases, lining a rocket into left-center field that rolled into the bushes and under the fence and was ruled a ground-rule triple under league rules. Max Marshall and Diana Bogdanos closed out the scoring in the first inning with hits of their own.
Early on the Sox kept it close thanks to outstanding play-making by Sumit Singh. In the second inning, Sumit was responsible for all three outs at second base. Two of the outs came from dead-on throws from Reid Yesson on the mound. Later on in the game Michael Monticiolo was fantastic at second base. He stopped more than one hit from becoming an outfield double, keeping the score close. Strong hitting by Julian Rubinfien and Talon Smith, with multiple-hit games by Owen Gallagher and Felix Barwick kept the game in reach for the Sox until the Yanks finally made their move.
With the score tied midway through the contest, the Yankees’ Julian Memmo and Erin Paholke stroked hard-hit singles, scoring on more hits by the slugging trio of Freddy Purpora, Scott Robbins, and Aakash Yagnik. But it was the Yankees’ hustle and fundamentals in the field that really paid off, with Kami King saving several runs by backing up every play and the dynamo Karun Sagar running down every ball in the outfield.
Even with the strong play of the White Sox’ Lucas Kinder, Owen Gallagher, Mateo Zules, and Karlos Acosta, they couldn’t stop the Yankees. In the last inning, Jason Bogdanos stroked his third hit of the game. Not to be outdone by her younger brother, Diana Bogdanos lined a scorcher into left field over the leap of the third baseman that went all the way to the fence in a bases-clearing triple. But the White Sox weren’t done yet, mounting a rally that was finally stopped by a running catch by Diana Bogdanos at second base and, several batters, later by Jason Bogdanos who snared a line drive and then raced to first base to end the game with his unassisted double play. A great game fought by two great teams with no losers — only winners.
Minors
Pirates vs. Dodgers
The teams played an action-packed four inning game on Saturday morning with the Dodgers prevailing by 14-9. The Dodgers led off in the first inning with walks to Yannick DeGuchteneere, William Sisson and Spencer Kiehl. The speedy Lucas Pryor then laced a line drive to the left-center gap for an inside-the-park grand slam to give the Dodgers a quick four-run lead. The Pirates captured the lead in the bottom of the first. Rio Hope-Gund reached on a hard smash to third. Elan Halpern and Kofi Hope-Gund followed with hits and Rio scored. After Ava Villalba was hit by a pitch, she was tagged out out on Gabe Leitner’s grounder to second which scored Halpern. Hudson Kussie followed with an R.B.I. hit, and he and Leitner scored when Christopher Araujo, Justen Lam and Morgan Witt walked.
The Dodgers took a 9-5 lead in the second inning on walks to Nicolas Fandrich, Yannick De Guchteneere, Charles Fenn, Pryor, Jackson Mansfield, Noah DeGuchteneere and Michael Swain. William Sisson reached on a fielder’s choice and Spencer Kiehl provided the thunder with a booming double that plated two runs. Noah DeGuchteneere then made his pitching debut for the Dodgers. Strangely, although he walked three batters and allowed a hit, the Dodgers managed to record three outs without a run scoring. After Indy Halpern and Jackson Robbins walked, Rio Hope-Gund smashed a single to center field. Pryor fielded the ball and fired a one-hop frozen rope to catcher William Sisson who applied the tag to the streaking Halpern for the first out. Sisson then alertly threw the ball to third baseman Charles Fenn who chased down Robbins in a run down for the unusual double play. Elan Halpern walked but was gunned down trying to steal by Sisson’s perfect throw to second baseman Jackson Mansfield.
The Dodgers were held scoreless in the third as the Pirates retired the side on two pop-ups and a strike out after lead off walks and steals by Jordan Roseman and Matthew Levine. The Pirates then closed the score to 9-8 as Leitner, Kussie and Patrick Constantin scored on a series of walks and another fielder’s choice by Leitner. Sisson came on in relief for the Dodgers and preserved the Dodger lead by recording a strike out to end the inning.
The Dodgers put the game out of reach in the fourth. The rally started with back-to-back triples by Fenn and Kiehl. A series of walks and a base hit by Noah DeGuchteneere allowed four more runs to score. During their last licks, the Pirates threatened against the Dodgers’ closer, Spencer Kiehl. With the bases loaded with Pirates, Gabe Leitner managed the only hit off Kiehl all year for one run. But Kiehl settled down to get a strike out to preserve the win for the euphoric Dodgers.
Cardinals vs. Reds
It was an exciting game from start to the abbreviated finish, as both second-place teams (3-1) faced each other on Saturday.
Liam Doyle took a base on balls to start off a nice inning for the Reds, but Tyler Rohan was stopped cold when the Cardinal’s first baseman Caleb Rubin snagged his line drive for the first out. Ben Steinberg and Will Best also walked, loading the bases for Tucker Rothbart. His tennis forehand swing did the trick to bring Doyle home, and Tyler Adams followed up by walking in a run. Devin Minniham struck out the next batter looking for out number two, but Douglass Stapler also walked, bringing in run three. Jackson Kaufman came in as relief pitcher, and struck out his first batter looking to end the top of the inning.
The bottom of the first was a banner one defensively for the Reds. Rohan struck out the first batter in three pitches. Max Matsumoto’s hard grounder to Stapler at third was played effortlessly for out two, and Kaufman’s déjà vu smack to the same spot ended the scoreless eight-pitch inning.
At the top of the second, Kaufman was able to strike out the three batters to hold the Reds scoreless. Down 3-0, the Cardinals started off with a walk from Oscar Tubke-Davidson in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Roger-Gordon had a nice single, and the runners advanced to second and third, setting the stage for Rubin’s grounder to Oliver Brown at first base. His sacrifice brought in Tubke-Davidson. Minniham took advantage of runners in soring position. blasting a high fly ball just left of the foul line and then smashing a two-R.B.I. double. Rohan used the last of his allotted pitches to strike out the next batter for out two, and Adams came in as reliever. Fresh off a 5 a.m. bedtime, Adams took a bit to get in the groove, walking Jeremiah Wysoker, but was able to strike out Pablo Irauzqui to end the inning in a 3-3 tie.
In the top of the third, Kaufman used the last of his pitches to strike out his last batter. Matsumoto came in as relief pitcher for the Cards, and although Adams was able to drive in a run with a hard grounder to short, he was unable to beat the throw to first. Jonah Frere- Holmes hit a high fly ball over the head of the first baseman, and was credited with a ribbie single. Stapler followed suit with a single.
In the bottom of the third, now down 8-3, the Cardinals fought back with a shot heard around the Cards’ bench, as Harry Seabrook reached first. Jack Vegas blasted a ball past third base, bringing in a run and almost getting caught in a rundown between second and third. Matsumoto took a base on balls, and Kaufman was hit be a pitch. Rubin’s ground ball to Adams was played to perfection at home, stopping Kaufman at home for out two. Hunter took another base on balls, walking in run three for the Cards, and Minniham’s beastly hit to left field brought in run four. But Rubin was surprised at home when Frere-Holmes did his best Carl Yastrzemski impression and threw him out from left field to end the inning.
The Reds did their best to increase their one run lead in the fourth, but the Cards’ Tubke-Davidson struck out their first batter, and back-to-back grounders to second kept them from doing so. They were able to return the favor in the bottom of the inning, though, when W. Best (now on the mound for the Reds) fielded a grounder perfectly and followed that up with a strikeout.
W. Best started up the fifth with an infield single, beating the play at first. Tubke-Davidson struck the next two batters out, but walked Frere-Holmes. With two outs and runners at the corners, Stapler stepped up to the plate and blasted an exciting base-clearing triple.
Time was running out, so the Cards took their last licks in the bottom of the fifth, down 10-7. Roger-Gordon’s massive cannon to right field brought in two runners to narrow the gap. “Little A-Rod” Wysoker found the sweet spot on a pitch, and sent the ball sailing into right field, bringing in the game-winning run for the Cards. The final score was 11-10, Cardinals.
