Philipstown Little League, Week 1

By Contributor | April 21, 2023

Baseball and softball results from April 15-16

Softball

Little League softball, which has five teams, took to the mound on opening day with a round-robin competition among its three-player pitch teams.

While regular season play sees Philipstown’s majors and two minors teams competing against squads from towns like Fishkill, Wappingers, Lagrange and Pleasant Valley, Saturday’s mellow tournament opened with minors Blue vs. Purple.

The Blue and Purple teams shake hands after their game. (Photo provided)

Blue took the three-inning scrimmage by two runs despite stellar pitching from Purple’s Ali Amato, catching by Adriana Peparo and solid infielding by Phoebe Krummel.

Minors Team Blue went on to play Philipstown’s majors squad and notched a win thanks in part to a big handicap: majors starting pitcher Allegra Clementson, a sixth-grader who throws too fast and hard for most minors batters, was designated to cover first base for the scrimmage.

Minors Blue pitcher Lucia McIlwaine and catchers Winter Steltz and Zephyr Wayland led the team on fielding while on offense, aggressive base stealing by all Blue batters led to a giant lead. Majors players Natalia Corless and Ava O’Neill had huge hits to the outfield.

Both teams play Lagrange on Saturday (April 22) with the Majors team up at 9 a.m. and the Minors Blue at 11 a.m.

Baseball Majors

The clouds parted and the sun came out to make it a perfect day for the opening game of the Major League season. A ceremonial first pitch ceremony was held to honor two longtime Philipstown Little League board members, Paul Tomizawa and Mike Meeropol. Paul and Mike both delivered strikes to start the season off on the right foot.

Paul Tomizawa throws out the first pitch. (Photo provided)

For the early game, the Green Leprechauns hosted the Red Krusty Krabs at the North Highlands Fire Department field. Both teams’ offenses got started early: After the Krusty Krabs scored two in the top of the first, the Leprechauns put up five runs in the bottom of the inning, only to see the Krusty Krabs respond with four in the top of the second to go ahead 6-5. From there, the pitching and defense stepped up for both sides.

For the Krusty Krabs, Mac Hendrix got the game ball for his strong pitching and work at the plate, while Dylan Drew went 3-3, Oliver Herman added two hits (and was robbed of another on a great catch by shortstop Will Valentine ranging into the outfield) and Natalie Taylor locked down third base with a number of good defensive plays.

For the Leprechauns, their top four hitters of Aidan Kane, Elliot Bennett, Will Valentine and Theo Swan were formidable, going a combined 9 for 15, Swan had a strong game behind the plate and Vinny Pidala pitched well in relief to keep the game close. Ultimately, the Krusty Krabs prevailed 13-9 in a closely-contested game.

The late Sunday game between Navy and Royal was scratched right at game time due to the fast-moving thunderstorm that made its presence known. The game was moved to Monday evening and proved to be worth the wait. Royal jumped out early a with six-run first inning, highlighted by Lughan McIlwaine’s 0-2 single against fireballer Ryan Spooner.

Navy would not stay down long and chipped away at the deficit with timely hitting and aggressive baserunning to take the lead back in the fourth. Rocco Lanza and Ben LeMon both tallied multiple hits, with LeMon knocking in five runs. Solid fielding by Navy would keep them in this game highlighted by an amazing catch by Daniel Moors on a deep hit to left field. But Royal would reclaim the lead and hold it for the win with a nice double by Sawyer McCarthy. Pitchers Brian Rommel and Harry McGrory would combine for the win.