Summary provided by Philipstown Little League:
On Saturday, April 29, it was touch and go as to whether any Little League baseball would be played in Phillipstown.
Under the direction of Lee Erickson, a crew of volunteers were able to get the field ready for play by the 2:30 p.m. start time after both the 9 and 11 a.m. games were cancelled due to wet grounds.
The Marlins and Yankees faced off for the first time this year. This was truly a see-saw battle. After a scoreless first inning in which Marlins pitcher Lincoln McCarthy struck out two with the bases loaded to hold the Yankees scoreless, Milo Pearsall set the Marlins down smartly, allowing only one base runner.
For the next three innings the runs came in bunches. The Yankees scored three in the top of the second, with Nick LeMon and Milo driving in the runs. It would have been worse had pitcher Zack Fox not caught Gavin Mahoney trying to steal home with a quick toss to catcher Isaac Jordan, who applied the tag. Zack then struck out two with the bases loaded to minimize the damage.
In the Marlins’ half of the second, patient batting produced two bases-loaded walks to Massi and Leo Manicinelli. Back came the Yankees in the top of the third with outstanding hitting, including a screaming liner to the centerfield fence off the bat of Bryce O’Halloran, driving in Kyioshi, who was on base with his third hit of the day.
Milo also doubled to knock in the third run, building the Yankee lead to 6-2. In the bottom of the third the Marlins scored two runs, sparked by a sharp single off the bat of Isaac. The top of the fourth saw the Yankees run the table, scoring the limit of five runs. Bryce, Kyoshi, Mil Ames Janetta and Nick all had hits. In the bottom of the fourth the Marlins matched that five-run rally — Zack, Daniel Campanile, Benjamin Edelson, Ben Hayes and Isaac all had RBI walks.
That set the stage for a thrilling last inning. Pitcher Zack Fox took the mound for the Marlins with only 10 pitches left to throw that day. Seven pitches later, he had two strikeouts and the dangerous Kyoshi at the plate. Would he get another hit and open the door to more runs? On the second pitch, Zack induced a come-backer to the mound. A sure-handed glove and soft toss to first baseman Ryan Cavallaro, who squeezed it for the final out, and the inning was half over.
With the time limit up, the fifth inning was going to be the last. The score was 11-9. Two runs or less, the Yankees win. Three runs or more, the Marlins win. Four walks and a strikeout later, the Marlins had the bases loaded, the tying run on third, the winning run on second and Zach Fox at the plate. With the count 3-and-1, he belted a two run double — Massi and Leo scampered home and the Marlins walked off with a win.
This game could have gone either way. The next Little League match-ups are May 13 at 9 a.m., noon and 2:30 p.m.
Photos by Robert Ferreira
