Pitching and defense is still the most tried-and-true recipe for success across all levels of the game of baseball. The Islip Owls played excellent defense, received a complete game gem from Derek Rivera and, oh that’s right, they also put up 11 runs to capture the 12U championship of the East Coast Columbus Day Tournament.
“It was a complete effort the entire weekend,” said their Head Coach. “They did the little things from taking extra bases, hitting behind runners, hitting sac flies, it was an all-around team effort,” he added.
They wasted zero time getting on the board in the top of the first inning when Jimmy Reidy led off with a single to center and stole second base. The following batter, Shea Miller, came to the plate and hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to the shortstop, but with Reidy racing to steal third he was able to score by never hesitating and scoring easily to get on the board.
The LI Indians came back in the home half of the first. Luca Fargnoli reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI ground out by Jagger Duque. The game was tied 1-1, but that was as close as it would be.
The Owls took the lead for good in the third inning when Carter Lam led off with single to center, stole second and third base and came around to score on an RBI ground out by Reidy.
Rivera fired a zero in the third inning and allowed his offense to get back to work in the fourth inning. They opened the game up with three runs. A.J. Giel led off with a single. After a fielder’s choice and an error, Gavin Warshauer drove in a run with a single to center, another run scored on a wild pitch and Justin Quillo added the third run by hustling and beating out a slow roller to shortstop.
After another scoreless inning from Rivera, the Owls blew the game open in the fifth with a six-spot. An RBI single by Shea Miller got it going, but Ryan Schofield added an RBI single of his own, as did Nicholas Lorefice. They showed their heart on the base paths to scoring two runs on an infield ground with runners on 2nd & 3rd. That was plenty of runs with Derek Rivera firing up zeros.
He closed it out with a scoreless fifth to end the game in a mercy.
Despite the loss, the Indians played great all weekend to reach the championship game and both teams have a lot to be proud of.
