by Jacob Infald
That’s the last out. Sayeves fires a complete game shutout for MVP South Shore as they improve to 13-2 on the summer. pic.twitter.com/ebfr7o0dQQ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 30, 2025
In between heavy rain and a lightning delay, there was a 16U LI Boys of Summer game played between MVP South Shore and Hicksville Elite. Both teams entered the contest atop the National and American divisions respectfully, both looking to make statement wins. It was ultimately MVP South Shore who overcame the weather behind a gem from River Sayeves (MacArthur 2027) who fired a complete game shutout en route to a 3-0 victory.
MVP was able to get on the board early and never looked back. Jonathan Moya (East Rockaway 2026) got the start for Elite and while he was sitting around 80 mph with his fastball, he struggled to find the zone. A walk in the first inning did not cost him, but a one out walk to Nick Dragos (MacArthur 2026) came back to hurt him and his team.
With two outs in the inning Rob Brisette demonstrated a great approach at the plate, going opposite field with a base hit to left. The ball took a bad hop on the outfield grass and Dragos, who was hustling on contact with two outs, was able to come all the way around to score on the error.
The next batter, Pat McGoldrick (Chaminade 2027) gave Sayeves and MVP a cushion, blasting one in the gap in left-center, one hopping the fence. Brisette scored easily and MVP led 2-0. McGoldrick, who hit a home run during this past weekend’s Axcess Baseball Invitational will be a name to watch in the coming years in the Catholic League. Sayveres called this second inning rally clutch and it helped set the tone for the rest of the game.
“It was a clutch double by Pat [McGoldrick] and we were just cruising out there,” Sayeves said.
MVP looked to pull away in the third, but they bailed Elite out. After the first three batters reached base via walks and a hit batter, Pat’s twin brother Brian McGoldrick drove in a run with a deep sacrifice fly to center field. After Moya walked Dylan Alt, his third walk of the inning, MVP decided to get creative.
With Dragos, a left-handed batter at the plate and the bases loaded their coach called for the rare suicide squeeze play. Moya’s pitch was up and away and Dragos could not get his bat on the ball. Mike Fortunato was out at home by a mile and Elite’s catcher Dom Peluso (Carey 2026) fired a dart to third to get Avery Acquaviva for the third out of the inning.
This momentum crushing play could have tilted the tide in favor of Elite, but Sayeves continued to be a consistent, calming force on the mound for MVP. In the top of the fourth he retired the side in order, producing three soft contact swings and his defense made the plays to retire the side in order. This was a common theme all game, Sayeves only recorded three strikeouts but he did not walk a batter, preventing Elite from getting momentum on the base path.
In the bottom of the fourth, with Brady Love (Massapequa 2026) on the rubber for Elite there was a lightning delay with one out. The delay ended quickly, but rain began falling as play resumed. Love fired two consecutive scoreless innings for Elite, adding to his two hit performance for an impressive overall game. Despite this, his squad still had no answer for Sayeves.
The only other hit Elite recorded was a leadoff single by Adam Gurzynski (Chaminade 2027) to start the fifth. However, this was quickly taken off the board by a beautifully turned 4-6-3 double play, with Acquaviva fielding the grounder at second and Jake Aramini turning it at shortstop.
After this double play Sayeves retired the final 7 batters in order, completing the complete game shutout. As the season winds down, both of these teams will be the favorites to win their respective divisions. However, it will be a sprint to the finish lines for both squads. MVP has three doubleheaders in 6 days, the first of which will be this Saturday August 2nd against LI Elite Inciarrano. Sayeves said that his team feels as if they are right where they are supposed to be heading into the end of the summer.
Hicksville Elite drops only their fourth league contest of the summer. They will have three games in as many days next week to finish out their regular season, the first of which will be against Long Island Empire on Monday August 4th.
