YOUTH BASEBALL
The Hillsborough Senior League Mugs Muckdogs defeated the Fruity Yogurt Rattlers 5-4 on May 30 in a close and very exciting game. Pitchers Evan Edelman, JD Friscia and Kyle Mochnacz combined for seven strikeouts. Eric Kmosko and Edelman had key RBI hits and Kevin Francfort also had two important hits for the Muckdogs.
Adam Berkowitz was superb in center field catching a ball at the fence and also throwing out a runner at second. Mochnacz was team MVP striking out two batters with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. The Muckdogs are in second place in league standings.
The Mugs Muckdogs also defeated the Fruity Yogurt Rattlers in Senior League action on May 19. Friscia pitched solidly to earn the victory for the Muckdogs. Edelman had an RBI double and also stole home on a very exciting play. Scott Cesta, Berkowitz and Friscia all had key hits. The Muckdogs were very aggressive on the base paths with key steals from Danny Congiusta and Mochnacz. Good defense and pitching shut out the Rattlers in all but one inning.
Storms keep rolling
to lead Senior League
The UC, The Source, Inc. Senior Storms won their ninth game as they beat the Bees in an 8-7 nail-biter. The Bees took an early four-run lead in the first inning. By the third inning the Storms had bounced back to take a 7-6 lead. In the fifth inning the Bees tied the game at 7-7. Then with a runner on second base, second baseman Joseph Hernandez, after having an assist and a putout in the inning, relayed a throw from right fielder David Minsavage to home plate for the third out and preventing the Bees from taking the lead.
The Storms came back to load the bases with a leadoff walk from Shawn Malloy, a single by Hernandez, another walk to Vince Giralo and then Nick Ackerman was hit by a pitch to score the winning run. Highlights of the game included Giralo and Ackerman having two RBI each and Dolan and Elmer Chang executing a perfect rundown at third base to pick off and important out. Starting pitchers Jamie O’Donohue and reliever Alex Van Nest combined to strike out seven and allow just six hits. The offense was lead by Shawn Malloy (2-for-2), Hernandez (1-for-3), Giralo (1-for-1), Ackerman (1-for-2), Mike Shipley (1-for-2) and O’Donohue (1-for-2).
The Storms won their 10th game beating the Rattlers 7-6. The Storms got off to a shaky start as they allowed the Rattlers to score five runs (four unearned) in the top of the first inning and another unearned run in the second inning. Starting pitcher Hernandez bore down as the Storms settled down and pitched shutout ball the remaining five innings. The Storm scored two runs in the third as Shipley(2-for-3) led off with a single and scored on Hernandez’s (2-for-3) line drive double to the gap in left-center. Hernandez then scored on a RBI single by Dolan (2-for-4) to make it 6-2.
The Storms scored two more runs in the fourth on a leadoff double by Chang (1-for-2), singles from Van Nest (2-for-2) and Shipley followed by a sacrifice fly by Malloy (1-for-3). Three more runs were scored in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead as Van Nest singled and scored on a hit by Malloy, followed by a walk to Hernandez and a two-run single by Dolan. Nick Ackerman, O’Donohue (1-4) and Ryan Lumia also collected hits to help Hernandez improve to 4-0 for the season.
Chang and Dolan combined to pitch a five-hitter in a 4-3 victory over the Muckdogs. The Storms took an early one-run lead in the bottom of the first inning. The Muckdogs responded with three runs in the top of the second. Then Malloy led off the bottom of the third inning with a single and a stolen base. Hernandez singled in the second run and then aggressively took second base on heads-up base running. Hernandez then scored on a RBI single from O’Donohue to tie the game.
The Storms took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on a walk by Dolan who then stole second, followed by another RBI single by O’Donohue for the final score of 4-3. There were great defensive plays by catcher Ackerman as he nailed two runners on second base, assisted by second baseman Hernandez and Andrew Deavila, as well as superb defense by right fielder Minsavage to steal several extra base hits. The Storms now have the best record in Senior League competition at 11-1.
The Storms beat the Rattlers 4-3 for their final win of the season, finishing with a 12 -2 record. The Rattlers took the lead in the first inning with a run. But the Storms quickly responded in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff double by Malloy, followed by a single from Hernandez. The Rattlers then took the lead with another run in the top of the fourth followed by another run in top of the sixth. With a 3-1 lead by the Rattlers, Hernandez came in relief for Dolan in the top of the seventh inning to strike out the side. The Storms then scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh with O’Donohue bringing in the go-ahead run to win by a score of 4-3.