by Jacob Infald
And that’s the game. Walters fired the last 3 and 2/3s and secured the win.
Top Tier Aviators 15 – LI Elite Inciarrano 4 pic.twitter.com/lK955elOQu— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 19, 2025
Heading into the fifth and final inning, the 16U Long Island Boys of Summer contest between the Top Tier Aviators and LI Elite Inciarrano was slow paced and low-scoring with LI Elite leading 4-3. Down to their final three outs, Top Tier’s offense erupted, going through their entire 11 man batting order and then some, putting up a whooping 12-spot, blowing the game open and securing a 15-4 win.
After losing six of their first eight league contests of the summer, Top Tier has caught fire, with this win being their seventh in a row. It seemed like their luck would run out tonight as in their first two at-bats they left four runners in scoring position, unable to get the crucial hit or a single run across the plate. Their starting pitcher Johnny Prinivalli (Sachem North 2027) struggled with command tonight. Through the first one and ⅓ innings, he walked six batters. When he left the game in the bottom of the second the bases were loaded with one out and his team trailed 2-0. After failing to capitalize on the offensive side early in the contest, Top Tier desperately needed to prevent LI Elite from getting a momentum crushing hit that would break this game open.
Andrew Walters (Comsewogue 2027) is the player of the game. The winning pitcher, he also delivered a key 2 RBI hit in the 5th. pic.twitter.com/ln5ttiq0Qa
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 19, 2025
Top Tier called upon Andrew Walters (Comsewogue 2027). He forced two fly balls that got his team out of trouble with a manageable three run deficit. The first of these fly outs was off the bat of LI Elite’s catcher Matt D’Aquino (Mepham 2027), who had three RBIs in the game.
“Coach told me to go out there and do a job and I just gave him everything I had,” Walters said when asked about how he maintains his composure when coming in with guys on base.
Top Tier began to turn the corner in the third after LI Elite took their starting pitcher Jake Mormino (Farmingdale 2026) out of the game with one out and a runner on second. Timmy Pendergast allowed an infield single and a walk before Macklin Smith (Longwood 2027) lifted a fly ball to right field. Jake Bugliari scored easily, but unfortunately D’Aquino tried to get Carter Pletman (William Floyd 2027) out at third. The throw went to left field, Pletman jogged home and the score was now 3-2.
Sloppy play from LI Elite continued in the fourth. A hit by pitch and a walk set Top Tier up with two runners on base and two outs. With Cooper Sorel (Northport 2027) at the plate, a low pitch from Pendergast squeaked past D’Aquino. Prinzivalli was on third and he read the ball perfectly, hustling home to tie the game up.
LI Elite then turned to Elijah Clemente to get out of the inning after Sorel walked. After walking his first batter, David Spina Jr. (Center Moriches 2027) hit a deep ball to right center that looked like it was going to be trouble. Louis Zin (Division 2026) got an awesome jump on the ball, hustling from center field to make the catch going back towards the wall on the run to end the inning and keep the game tied.
LI Elite looked poised to break the game open in the bottom of the fourth. Their first three batters reached base. Zin laid down a beautiful bunt to load up the bases with nobody out, bringing up the 3-4-5 batters in their order.
Walters once again did an exceptional job staying strong. He got Donovan Reid swinging for out one. D’Aquino was able to hit another sacrifice fly, but him and LI Elite both knew they needed more than that. Walters then got Tristan Badillo to flyout to end the threat, taking this slow moving game to the fifth and final inning.
Clemente only needed three more outs. However after a groundball off the bat of Pletman on the left side that should have been fielded squeaked through to left field, Top Tier was in business. After a walk, bunt and walk, the game was tied 4-4, bases loaded and nobody out. That was when Top Tier turned to their bench, calling upon Jake Endee to take his first swing of the night. Endee did his job, hitting a soft grounder on the right side and even though he was thrown out at first, Andrew Manesis (Shoreham-Wading River 2027) scored easily, giving Top Tier the lead.
From there, they did not let up. Their bench that had been loud and full of energy all game finally had something to cheer about. Walters drove a ball that found the grass in right field, two more runs scored it was now 7-4. Craig Burkhardt (William Floyd 2026) and Sorel each drove one in, making it 9-4. Zin took the ball from Clemente after the Burkhardt RBI, but Zin who does not normally pitch had difficulty navigating this scorching Top Tier lineup.
The final dagger came off the bat of Manesis, hitting a bases clearing double to the gap in left-center; these three runs made the score 14-4. Top Tier ended the inning with an insurmountable 15-4 lead, leaving LI Elite stunned and defeated.
“We’re boys, a good group,” Walters said. “We just got hype, that’s it, not much to say we just put it together.”
LI Elite put a couple of base runners on in the bottom of the fifth, but Walters would not let them get a single run back, firing a scoreless bottom of the fifth, getting Pendergast to pop out to the right side of the infield to end the game.
Both teams have a quick turnaround with doubleheaders on the schedule for Sunday. Top Tier will take on LIB Select while LI Elite will face off against the Nesconset Panthers.
