Community Sports

NEAA Baseball – Cardinals 6, Tigers 3

by The Commissioner

The Cardinals and Tigers dodged raindrops to get their game in. The rain was intermittent during the game. The hard rain waited until the final out.

The Cardinals threatened in the top of the 1st, but the Tiger pitcher, Fortunato D’Ampolo, raced toward 1st base to field a grounder and throw Francesco Santaniello out at the plate. The Cardinals came back to score 2 in the top of the 2nd. With one out and the bases loaded on 2 walks and a hit batsman, William Marchi scorched a liner to right to plate the game’s 1st run. An infield grounder gave the Cardinals a 2 run lead. They doubled their lead in the 3rd. Owen Lock and Fred Moseby both tripled and an RBI groundout by Nolan Ward gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead. Cardinals starter JC Pezzuto was cruising, having walked 1 Tiger and striking out 8 when Nick LaBell hit a dribbler in front of the plate. Pezzuto and Santaniello converged on the ball and got in each other’s way, forcing a bad throw that sailed into right field. As the 1st baseman picked up the ball, the Tiger runner was heading for 3rd. A wild throw toward 3rd allowed LaBella to score.

Pezzuto, unfazed, proceeded to strike out his 9th Tiger, ending his night on the mound.

In the bottom of the 4th. more adventurous fielding by the Cardinals allowed 2 more Tigers to circle the bases to make the game close, 4-3.

But in the top of the 5th, a RBI triple by Santaniello gave the Cardinals a 2 run lead. Santaniello died at 3rd when Edward Ardolino went over the center field fence to rob Pezzuto of a home run. In the top of the 6th, Fred Moseley scored on a short wild pitch as the Tiger catcher had trouble getting a handle on the slick ball. Locke, pitching his 3rd inning, struck out the 1st 2 Tigers in the bottom of the 6th.

After a walk, a force out at 2nd ended the game. As Marchi’s throw settled into Pezzuto’s glove, the rains came.

For more, see NEAABaseball.org