by Jacob Infald
Showtime wraps it up and wins the game 9-1 in five innings. Blanch throws five innings allowing only one run and striking out 5. pic.twitter.com/pbuwem9aSY
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 18, 2025
Justin Blanch (Jericho 2027) took the mound with a lead for Showtime Legacy 15U and he never looked back. The right-hander threw a complete game, allowing only one run and striking out five as Showtime defeated Yeti Baseball Navy 15U 9-1 in a Long Island Boys of Summer 15U game.
Blanch demonstrated excellent composure on the mound, leaving six of Yeti’s base runners stranded on base throughout the night. Blanch’s stuff was also deceiving, as he would hold his leg kick with two strikes, similar to Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Nestor Cortes. Blanch said he knows his two-seam fastball has great tail movement so changing up his windup would help to disrupt the hitters’ timing.
“I thought the off-speed was working great,” Blanch said. “I felt like my fastball had a little extra velo on it and I was just trying to attack the corners.” Blanch said.
Unfortunately for Yeti, their starting pitcher did not have the same success as Blanch. Lukas Frazer (East Islip 2027) was unable to record an out in the top of the first. He hit two batters and walked four and by the time he was taken out of the game, the Yeti were already down 3-0.
They looked to Kiernyn Mehmel (William Floyd 2028) to get them out of trouble and to keep the score close. After being so patient through the first six batters of the game, Showtime pounced, Karl Wesner (St. Dominic’s 2028) hit a rope to center field that dropped in for a single. Nick Salamone would come around to score the fourth run of the inning for Showtime.
Tonight’s player of the game is none other than Justin Blanch (Jericho 2027). He spoke about his performance on the mound and Showtime Legacy’s 9-1 victory over Yeti Baseball Navy. pic.twitter.com/HlQ6zvQS9q
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 19, 2025
However, just as things were starting to get out of hand for Yeti, Mehmel dialed it in. He struck out Jacob Crowell with a nasty off speed pitch for the first out. Next, Michael Sine (Archbishop Molloy 2028) hit a hard ground ball to third. Jack Laieta (Shoreham-Wading River 2028) gobbled it up and fired it home. Yeti’s catcher, James Bitts (Connetquot 2028) made a stretch like a first baseman, picking the ball out of the turf for a very crucial second out, preventing at least one run from scoring for Showtime.
Mehmel would get out of the first inning with the score being a very manageable 4-0 in favor of Showtime, but Showtime’s bats were not done yet. After retiring the leadoff hitter in the top of the second, Mehmel surrendered singles to Leo Cataldo (Plainview-Old Bethpage 2027) and Dustin Basnyat (Long Beach 2027). This brought Salamone to the plate and as soon as the ball connected with his bat everyone at the field knew it was trouble.
The hit cleared the outfielders, nearly getting all the way to the wall in the right-center field gap. Both runners would come around to score, Salamone would cruise into third and Showtime’s dugout and fans let the lefty slugger hear their appreciation. After a four-run first inning that almost felt like a letdown, Showtime finally got the big blow to open up their lead.
Despite being down early, the Yeti did not go away easy. Mehmel would retire the side in order in the top half of the third and the Yeti sensed an opportunity. With one out, they got a couple of base hits from the bottom of the order courtesy of Peter Recupero (Mt. Sinai 2028) and Evan Pacella. Both runners would advance into scoring position after a passed ball and there was finally some excitement coming from the Yeti’s dugout.
Blanch knew he needed to throw strikes to the following hitter who was Bitts. Blanch remained poised and was able to jam Bitts with a pitch on the inner half of the plate. However, the ball looked like it was hit to no man’s land between the pitcher’s mound and second base. Blanch immediately turned around, got off the mound and made a very impressive over the shoulder diving catch to record a huge out. He would retire the following batter to end the threat.
In the top of fourth, the Yeti turned to Nate Caruana (St. Anthony’s 2028) to take the ball from Mehmel. Mehmel threw three innings, only allowing two earned runs and left three runners stranded in scoring position.
Caruana struggled with command, walking four batters throughout the inning. Showtime capitalized as Basnyat drove in Owen Phillips (St. Dominic’s 2028) for the seventh run. They would go on to score two more runs that inning as they ran the bases well, getting guys in scoring position to score on wild pitches.
Through great defense behind him, and timely hits and base running, Blanch said everyone played great in this well-rounded victory for his squad.
“The hitters did great, the defense also did great,” Blanch said. “The hitters had a great approach at the plate, got a lot of hits and overall played great.”
Blanch shut down any other thoughts of a rally from the Yeti in the bottom of the fourth when he retired the side in order, including two strikeouts where he demonstrated his deceptiveness in his delivery.
Heading into the bottom of the fifth with the score still being 9-0, the Yeti needed to score at least two runs to avoid the game ending in a run rule. They looked like they were not ready to go home, as their first three batters reached base including base hits from Mehmel and Shane Penn.
With the bases loaded, the Yeti seemed poised for their breakout inning. However, Blanch had other plans, striking out Alex DeVito for out number one. Next, he traded an out for a run when Riley Zoldak hit a sacrifice fly to center field. After walking the next batter, Blanch locked in, forcing a ground ball to the right side, resulting in the third and final out.
The Yeti fought hard after going down early before ultimately dropping this one for their fourth loss of the season. They fall under .500 in league play with their record now being 3-4 and look to bounce back on Saturday in a doubleheader against MVP South Shore Manno.
Showtime Legacy gets their first win in league play, improving their record to 1-2-1. Blanch said his squad will look to build off this victory in their next league game on Wednesday June 25th against Next Level Futures.
We could take that same energy into the next game and build off it and get some more wins,” Blanch said.
