by Jacob Infald
D’Ornellas is the player of the game. He threw a complete game shutout. He spoke about the total team effort that took place tonight. pic.twitter.com/HN2lcza1A1
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 16, 2025
On the very first pitch of the game, MVP South Shore Fiore’s pitcher Steven D’Ornellas forced Yeti Baseball Select’s leadoff batter Nick Given to fly out to left. One pitch, one out. 21 outs later D’Ornellas had achieved a complete game shutout, leading his squad to their fifth straight victory in the LI Boys of Summer 15U National Division.
It was a homecoming performance for D’Ornellas. The MacArthur HS class of 2027 product was able to pitch at his home field. In fact, a quarter of MVP’s lineup consisted of MacArthur players, including Gio Arganese, another class of 2027 player who caught the entirety of this contest.
The home field advantage was not apparent in the early innings. Both pitchers and defenses were dialed in, both teams were hitless through the first two and a half innings. Yeti’s starting pitcher Jake Simonson (West Babylon 2028) was perfect through the first two frames, getting support from his defense. Tyler Cope (Connetquot 2028) made a nice running catch in center to end the first, and Jax Cascione (Smithtown West 2027) made a nice play on a slow groundball to help Simonson retire the side in the second.
MVP finally got things going in the bottom of the third. With one out Colby Grzelaczyk (MacArthur 2028) hit a ball past the reach of Drew Nucci at third base. It rolled down the left field line and Grzelaczyk hustled for a double. After Tommy Imperato (Floral Park 2028) reached on an E5, both runners advanced into scoring position via a soft groundball off the bat of Arganese.
With two outs, Andrew Giron (Holy Trinity 2028) got jammed up and hit a soft grounder in no man’s land on the right side of the infield. He hustled down the line, beating the rushed throw that was way over Joey Vulin’s head at first. Vulin did not give up on the play, hustling to get the ball and making a perfect throw home. Dom Romano (Kings Park 2028) slapped the tag on Imperato to limit the damage and get Yeti back into the dugout.
MVP’s offense was not done yet. Knowing they needed a bigger cushion, they came out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth. Chris Morrissey (Lynbrook 2028) hit a line drive to center field that dropped for a single. He advanced to second on a groundout from D’Ornellas. The next batter Will Hutchinson (Calhoun 2027) singled to left-center and advanced on a throw to third, setting MVP up with two runners in scoring position and one out.
Luke Walker was an All-County player as a sophomore for Clarke High School this past spring. The three hitter for MVP, nobody at the stadium expected him to lay down a perfect bunt on the first base line. Morrissey scored easily, everyone was safe and the score was now 2-0 in favor of MVP. They tacked on one more when the following batter, Brian Lynch (MacArthur 2028) singled to left to drive in Hutchinson.
Up until this point, D’Ornellas was firing a no-hitter. He had recorded five strikeouts through the first four innings and Yeti seemingly had no answer. To Yeti’s credit, they began putting together some great at-bats in the later innings. A single by Cascione broke up the no-hitter in the fifth. D’Ornellas stood tall and later in the inning with two on and two out, he induced a grounder from Cope to Walker at short who made the play easily to end the threat.
In the top of the sixth Yeti put a couple of runners on base with two outs. After an awesome back-handed play at short by Walker and a strikeout, Yeti had Given at the plate with two outs. He worked a walk. Next up was Johnny Ficalora (West Islip 2027). Ficalora, who fired a shutout in the fifth inning for Yeti, executed a hit-and-run to perfection. The lefty bat hit a groundball in the gap at shortstop, and Given advanced to third. D’Ornellas did not falter, forcing Vulin to popout to shallow left on the first pitch to end the inning.
Yeti built some more momentum in the bottom of the sixth. With Ryan Banfill (Sachem North 2028) pitching they found themselves in trouble. MVP had runners on first and second and nobody out with D’Ornellas at the plate. After two bunts that went foul, D’Ornellas was forced to swing and grounded into a 4-6-3 doubleplay. The third out was recorded on a great play from Romano. He caught Giron napping at third base, firing a dart to Nucci who got the tag down in plenty of time.
Awesome catch in right by Tommy Imperato (Floral Park 2028). Nucci grounded into a 5-4-3 double play so this was the last out of the game. MVP wins their 5th league game in a row.
MVP South Shore Fiore 3 – Yeti Select 0 pic.twitter.com/h2xX0KkuTb— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 16, 2025
Romano got things going in the top of the 7th with a hit by pitch. Cascione then found open grass in center field, his second hit of the night and Yeti had life. After a long mound visit, D’Ornellas got some help from his defense. Nucci grounded into a 5-4-3 doubleplay which was followed up by an amazing catch in right by Imperato to end the game.
MVP South Shore Fiore now finds themselves tied with LI Storm Select for first place in the win column with seven apiece. They look to keep the momentum rolling in their doubleheader against Gorilla Baseball on Saturday. Yeti falls to 1-3 on the summer in league play and they look to bounce back on the 23rd when they have a doubleheader against Next Level Futures 15U.
