Downtown Little League games were canceled Saturday afternoon after a piece of metal debris from the Goldman Sachs construction project crashed onto the fields (see article, page 5), but play resumed Sunday after a stop work order was issued.
Minors
Angels vs. Dodgers The rain that had fallen the day before broke by early morning on Saturday. The clouds gave way to crystal-clear skies and the field conditions were fantastic for baseball.
After the traditional warm-up, the Dodgers came up to bat. Harris led the Dodgers off with a single. Josh then hit a fielder’s-choice and Jeffrey Lau forced Harris out at second. Jesse and Nicky then came through with back-to-back towering shots to left for singles. As the team finished their lineup, they took to the outfield.
The Angels came to bat, led off by Edward Dowd. The lineup went very quickly as the Angles were wide awake and, in what seemed to be a series of hits on first pitches, the inning ended as Alex Brown made his way to first base.
The second inning had the Dodgers in the same lineup. Single after single was hit. Dylan was forced out at third by the Angels’ Dylan Gutierrez, who was playing the hot corner as the ball came his way. He was able to gather it up and step on third to make the play. Cameron closed out the hitting for the Dodgers with a single.
The Angels were led-off by Dylan Gutierrez, who hit a grounder right to first and was tagged out. Midway through the inning, Oliver Ripps hit a towering shot to center. Not to be out done, Max Halpern came on to have the hit of the day for the Angels with a deep drive into left field. To end the inning, Danny Coffey popped up to the pitcher. To the surprise of all, the ball was caught out of the air by the Dodgers to end the inning.
The Dodgers came to the third inning the way they had began with the same lineup order. Harris, Josh, Viraj, Jessie, Nicky, Bradon, Reuben, Dylan, Cameron, and James, who grounded to second, and Alex was able to force Cameron out.
The Angels continued their tradition of helping their tired teammates at bat by chanting their names. Jeffrey Lau, Katlyn Parker, Oliver Ripps, Michael Trorra, Alex Brown, Edward Dowd, Max Halpern, Danny Coffey, Dylan Gutierrez, and Alexa Klippel, all made it to base safely.
The game ended in a tie. The teams congratulated each other for a fun morning had by all.
Pitcher Henry Costello throws out Will Merrill at home.
Junior Minors Upper
Phillies Vs. Reds A sunny morning beckoned after a Friday wash-out had stopped the previous night’s games; the Phillies and Reds took to the field with red shirts galore and enthusiasm despite the mud and early hour.
The Phillies struck early, with leadoff batter, Xander Watt, singling sharply and cleanup hitter Ian O’Connor driving Watt home with a pounding triple to left. In the second inning, Antonio Julbela-Gordon also tripled, and Luke Marable’s smash combined for the second run. The Reds made some skillful defensive plays, when, in the fourth inning, Sophia Marino tagged out a Philly player between second and third base. This followed hits by Kevin Wu and Morgan Rosenkrantz that brought in the third Philly run.
The Phillies also showed some defensive mettle, as Oscar Sullivan combined with Ethan Shoulberg in the Reds’ third to keep them off base. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Reds loaded the bases with hits from Noah DeGuchteneere and Liam Lawlor. Then Joshua Fish and Ian O’Connor teamed up to make a force at third and cut down the lead runner. But Georgia Greenleaf scored the Reds’ first run, and the Phillies managed to get out of the inning, leading 3 – 1.
In the fifth inning — when the Reds threatened again with hits from Ariana Lamser and Caleigh Carr on the right side of the infield — Jonathan Sandella’s adept play at first kept the Reds from advancing.
The final inning proved explosive for both teams as O’Connor led-off the top of the sixth, hitting a hard-line drive over second base, while Sandella got an R.B.I. that brought him in. Julbela-Gordon beat out a hit at first and Sulllivan’s smack scored his teammate. Bobby Harding Jr. also got a hit, but that was it for the Phillies. The Reds’ Morgan O’Mara led off with a pop-up single, and Noah DeGuchteneere was also safe at first on a close play. Then Liam Lawlor’s sharply hit drive brought in the Reds’ final two runs as Joshua Fish took a ball that was hit up the first base line by Ava O’Mara to the bag for the game’s final out, finishing in a 5 – 3 Phillies win. The sun had come out, and the two teams had given it their all.
Minors
Tigers vs. Dodgers In a game that was far closer than the score indicated, the Tigers prevailed with clutch hitting and fancy glove work when it counted.
In the first, the Tigers jumped out to a big lead, scoring seven runs. They received clutch hitting from Niall Gallagher with a bases-clearing hit (plating two of his five R.B.I.s for the game), Brody Sharoff (who had two hits and four R.B.I.s for the game), and Ben Karam, who scorched a bases-loaded triple just over the first base bag. The Dodgers tried to answer in their half of the inning, but were stifled by the Tigers’ stellar fielding in support of all-star caliber pitching from Graham Nelson, who retired the side on just nine pitches. William Sisson’s lead-off smash to right field was snared on one hop by Tyler Adams, who threw a laser to Brody Sharoff, barely nipping the speedy Sisson and robbing him of a base hit. Later in the inning, clean-up hitter Jake Turner hit a hard shot that Tiger shortstop Michael Bogdanos speared while falling to his knees. Bogdanos quickly recovered and fired a strike to first, nabbing Turner, and ending the inning stranding speedster Lucas Pryor at third.
In the second, the Tigers extended their lead, scoring another five runs. After the Dodgers pitcher walked five and struck out one, Brody Sharoff’s bases-loaded double to the opposite field drove in three of the five runs. But the feisty Dodgers mounted a comeback in the bottom of the second. Pitcher Theo Levine led-off with a hard smash to left center for a double. A series of walks and an R.B.I. single by William Sisson resulted in five runs scored for the Dodgers.
In the third inning, Sisson came on to pitch for the Dodgers and limited the Tigers to three runs on a series of walks and a single by Max Ripps. The Tigers’ half of the inning ended when Aidan Rogers deftly handled a hard ground ball from Uriah Fredericks and flipped to second baseman Shai Goodman, ending the bases-loaded threat. The Dodgers scored two more in their half of the third as Pryor and Blas Lee came home on singles by Rogers and Levine.
In the top of the fourth inning, with two on and one out for the Tigers, the game was called for safety reasons as debris from a nearby construction site fell onto left center field.
Majors
Eagles vs. Hornets The Eagles defeated the Hornets by a score of 13 – 3 on Sunday. After both teams failed to score in the first two innings, Michael Klusendorf homered with two men on base in the third to give the Eagles a lead that they would never relinquish. Leadoff hitter Kojin Glick went three-for-four for the Eagles, and Clay Walsh added a pair of doubles.
The game between the Royal Giants and Crawford was rained out.
Junior Minors Upper
Jays vs. Cardinals On a bright and sunny Sunday morning, the Blue Jays and Cardinals locked into a terrific offensive battle of wills. Julian Kaufman led-off for the Cardinals with a hard hit single at the top of the first.
Bain Boudreaux drove in Kaufman to collect the first R.B.I. of the game. A steady barrage of hard hit singles by Anna Miliakos, Mairead Farrell and Ava Villalba provided some early-inning runs for the Blue Jays. After being held scoreless in the second inning, the Cards rallied in the third with seven hits. Julian Kaufman, single again, followed by singles from James Stinnett, Lucas Perra, Qiufei Smart, and Bain Boudreaux. Marcus Wong and Walker Brandt both collected R.B.I. to put the Cards in a 6 – 4 lead. The Cards’ bats remained hot in the fourth inning. Tai Deguchi started the fourth with a hard hit double. Julian Kaufman and James Stinnett reached base with singles each. With bases loaded, Palmer Menken collected an R.B.I. when he drove in Deguchi. Qiufei Smart, Palmer Menken, and Lucas Perra also collected R.B.I. in the fourth. The Cards protected their lead in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings with impressive defense from Ogden Opheim, Marcus Wong, and Mak and Tai Deguchi. Lucas Perra’s defensive plays at first base contributed to key outs in the fifth and sixth innings.
On the defensive side, the Blue Jays were led by shortstop Bobby Baumann, who made an exciting basket-catch to help stall an early Cardinal rally and kept the Jays within striking distance. The Jays’ Morgan Witt, Patrick Costantin and Christopher (C.J.) Araujo all contributed in the “hustle” department with their defensive efforts. The Jays’ infielders Carlos Ritchie and Katerina (Kat) Coggeshall also provided a steady spark to their team by making some crucial outs in the field. Honorable mention goes to James O’ Grady for giving up his body on a hard-hit ball, and Jason Kao for sliding in “head first” at first base on the last play of the game for the valiant Blue Jays. All in all, it was a fantastic game for both teams.
Second baseman Spencer Driggs throws it to first.
