by John Sullivan
Postgame interview with players of the game Chris Hall and Lucas Sweeting pic.twitter.com/B4Uwra2xDd
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 30, 2025
Long Island Empire Black came into Cantiague Park Wednesday night looking for an upset over the first place team in the 14u American division, the Long Island Elite Prospects. Elite gave the ball to hard throwing right hander Lucas Sweeting, who was featured in our “Up Next” series back in February.
Empire had a great start off Sweeting, as Leo Sanchez drew a walk to leadoff the game and advanced to third on a throw away on a pickoff attempt with no outs. With Sanchez on third, Anthony Fiorentino hit a chopper to third for an RBI ground out and an Early 1-0 Empire lead. Sweeting then struck out the next two batters he faced, one with a fastball on the black that caught the batter looking and the second with an elevated fastball that he blew by the batter. Despite giving up a run, Sweeting looked strong early on.
Elite wasted no time at all responding to the run Empire scored. After Micah Tramantano started the game off with a single into left, two batter Chris Hall sent a fastball the other way into the right center field gap for an RBI double. Hall then advanced to third on a wild pitch and was eventually driven in by Elite three batter, Neo Ianelli, on a single down the third base line. Lucas Sweeting then hit a single into the hole on the left side, and Dom Kortkamp followed that up with a walk to load the bases with no outs. This brought Nick Almiroudis to the plate and he delivered a slow roller groundout to first that brought home a run. Luckily for Empire, the damage was done here, because starting pitcher Cody Gatto proceeded to get a swinging strikeout on a fastball and a popout to third to escape the inning. Elite led 3-1 after one full inning of play.
The second inning started very smoothly for Sweeting on the mound, as he quickly got two outs via a ground out to himself and a fly out to center. But, Empire proved they wouldn’t go down easy after Matt Folger and Dom McKenna each ripped singles into left field, and Quinn Provitera worked a walk to load the bases. After a long battle with Cody Gatto, Sweeting broke off a nice curveball that caused a weak fly out to center field and maintained the 3-1 lead for Elite.
Chris Hall once again jumps all over a fastball and drives a ball into the gap, but this time he legs it out for a 3 run inside the park homer! The shot extends Elite’s lead to 6-1 after 2 pic.twitter.com/6EtcCZif9a
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 30, 2025
Elite didn’t look like they’d put up more runs in the second after two quick outs to start the inning, but an Austin Barley walk and another Micah Tramantano single had them in business with Chris Hall coming to the plate. Hall proved to be the right guy for the moment, as he jumped all over a fastball and absolutely smoked it into the left center field gap. Hall then had a chance to show off the speed and he did just that, legging out the gap shot for a three-run inside the park home run! Hall’s one swing of the bat turned a 3-1 lead into a 6-1 lead for Elite.
Now with a very comfortable cushion, Lucas Sweeting took the mound for the third, continuing to pound the strike zone. The third started with Mason Yarocki reaching on an E3, but Sweeting quickly picked up his first baseman and rolled a 6-3 double play on the next batter. Sweeting then got Leo Sanchez to fly out to center to end the inning. In the bottom half of the third, Nick Natale took the bump for Empire and he looked great. After inducing a groundout to short and a fly out to center, Natale walked Nick Almiroudis. But, he quickly bounced back and got Micheal Urciuoli to roll over to second to keep the score at 6-1 heading into the fourth.
Elite decided to bring in Nick Almiroudis out of the bullpen for the fourth inning. After walking the first batter he faced, Almiroudis settled down and got a popout and a strikeout. With rain pouring down, Almiroudis struggled against Sean Rahner and Nick Natale, walking them both. Luckily for Elite, Almiroudis wasn’t rattled and he struck out the next batter looking at a fastball on the outside corner. Due to the downpour, this was the last out of the game and Elite won it 6-1.
It was very unfortunate that we only got to see these two great teams play four innings. But, four innings was all it took for Lucas Sweeting to impress on the mound and for Chris Hall to impress at the plate. Both Elite players spoke to Axcess Baseball after the game about their approaches on the mound and at the plate.
