by Joe Bello
The Top Tier Aviators and B1 Ghost Black faced off in an LI Boys of Summer 15u American Division doubleheader Sunday afternoon at East Islip High School. The two games featured a lot of action between the two teams, which included a lot of walks.
Base on balls were a common them as 30 were issued against both of the teams throughout the 12 innings of baseball played Sunday. Due to the time limit both games only went 6 innings each.
Game 1
3-2, 2 outs, bases loaded, and Aiello with a huge strikeout to end this game as a 4-4 tie. Game 2 coming up shortly. pic.twitter.com/maO42FLM5Y
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 8, 2025
Starting off with game one, the Ghost sent Chris DiGiovanni to the mound to face off against the Aviators. DJ Whitmore started the game off with a leadoff triple to deep left field, but would be left stranded out there.
While for the Aviators, Harrison McManus toed the rubber. McManus would go on to have a great outing following a rough first inning where he allowed four walks to Ghost hitters. One of those baserunners, Xavier Straub, would come in to score on a wild pitch giving Ghost the advantage early. But McManus would notch his third strikeout of the first frame to limit the damage and send the Aviators to bat.
DiGiovanni did a great job of navigating through trouble in the top half of the 2nd. He walked the bases loaded but ended up getting out of it without allowing a run. In the bottom half of the inning, McManus would throw the first of an eventual four consecutive 1-2-3 innings.
The Aviators finally got the bats to come alive with runners in scoring position in the top of the third. Cole Hess pushed across his team’s first run of the game on an RBI groundout and then Tyler O’Mahoney would score on a wild pitch to make it 2-1 Aviators. This would end up being the end of DiGiovanni’s day on the bump, he finished with 2.1 innings pitched, 3 hits, 3 runs, 4 strikeouts and 4 walks.
Julian Carias came in to pitch for Ghost looking to escape a tight spot. But it was Logan McKee who would launch a 2 RBI double into the left field gap to make it a 4-1 lead for the Aviators. Carias would eventually escape without too much damage being done with a clutch bases loaded strikeout.
There wouldn’t be much action offensively for either team until the bottom of the 6th where the Ghost would have last licks, trying to tie the game up.
The Ghost would end up having their first seven hitters of the inning reach base. Including a base hit by Ben Seltzer which broke up a no hitter that McManus brought into the 6th. McManus walked the next batter and then his day was done, more on him in a bit.
After two straight bases loaded walks, the Ghost were within one run with bases loaded and 1 out. Suddenly a wild pitch scored Bobby Genovese to tie the game up at 4 apiece. All signs pointed towards the Ghost walking this game off in dramatic fashion. But the Aviators’ Landon Aiello had other plans, striking out the final two hitters to end the game in a 4-4 tie.
But the story of this game was how brilliant Harrison McManus was following a rough 1st inning. McManus spoke to Axcess Baseball after the game.
His final line: 5.0+ IP, 1 hit, 3 runs (he left two on base when he exited), 7 strikeouts and 5 walks.
“First inning was kind of rough, I wasn’t really finding my mechanics.” McManus said, “After that I was able to settle in.”
After a 1st inning which included 4 walks but also 3 strikeouts for McManus, he would go on to retire the next 12 batters in order. He also didn’t allow a single hit through the first 19 batters he faced.
“I go to the dugout, and go over what I am doing wrong,” He added, “and what I am doing right, and kind of work off of that.”
Game 2
Logan McKee of the Aviators following his complete game shutout over the Ghost, he went 6 innings allowing only 3 hits, 0 runs while amassing 7 strikeouts. pic.twitter.com/xrS3eDjDZc
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 8, 2025
McManus and his team were able to carry some of the momentum from game 1 into game 2 of the doubleheader and notch a 6-0 win over the Ghost in 6 innings.
This time it featured a different pitcher throwing a great game for the Aviators, Logan McKee.
McKee started things off quickly for the Aviators retiring 2 batters in the top of the 1st via strikeout.
Starting for the Ghost in this game was Jake Glass. The Aviators put one up quickly in the 1st, as after a ball was thrown away Connor Minihane was able to come around and score to make it 1-0. Glass would leave runners on 2nd and 3rd with a big strikeout to limit damage.
The 2nd inning was a quiet one for both offenses. McKee faced four batters and struck two of them out, while Glass faced four batters and had one K.
The top of the 3rd was another quick one for McKee and the Aviators, with the inning ending on a nicely executed 6-4-3 double play.
The Aviators did some damage at the plate in the bottom half of the frame though. Whitmer and Minihane both walked to lead off the inning, and then O’Mahoney drove in Whitmer on a groundout to take a 2-0 lead. The Aviators would plate another runner on a RBI triple by Hess to make it 3-0. Hess would go on to score on a wild pitch to extend the lead once again.
Dom Hartwell entered the game on the mound for the Ghost and ended up stranding two base runners to take this game into the 4th.
McKee would take the mound once again in the 4th, with another inning of only facing four batters. Notably this inning a Ghost baserunner was gunned down at home plate trying to go first to home on a triple smacked by Stevie Boxer. An impressive relay from the left fielder to the cutoff man to the catcher for the out.
The next bit of action takes us into the bottom of the 5th, where the Aviators tack on another 2 runs to take a 6-0 lead. The first run came in on a ball thrown into the outfield on a 1st and 3rd play, then the second scored on a passed ball.
Looking for the win in the top of the 6th, McKee made quick work of the Ghost batters, putting them down in order to complete the shutout and the victory.
His final line: 6 innings (complete game), 3 hits, 0 runs, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks
McKee spoke to Axcess Baseball following the performance about staying fresh and locked in during a long outing.
“I just keep up and moving,” McKee said, “Especially when it’s windy and chilly out. Just gotta stay warm.”
“My best weapon today was the two-seam and changeup,” He added, “those were my two best, go-to, they worked every time.”
The Aviators move to a record of 2-1-1 and the Ghost are now 1-3-1 early here in the summer.
