by Jacob Infald
Calabreses oh my goodness. Strikeout to end a complete game 1 hit shutout.
Yeti Select 1 – OC Titans 0 pic.twitter.com/5gYp9aqZj9— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 9, 2025
14U Yeti Select took care of business today, sweeping the OC Titans in a LI Boys of Summer 14U National doubleheader, eliminating the Titans from playoff contention and solidifying themselves as the number two seed heading into the postseason. They won game one 1-0 behind a gem from Giuseppe Calabrese (Hauppauge 2028) and took game two 8-3 thanks to two big two-out hits from Pat Clark (Sachem North 2028). Overall, it was two games of sound baseball from Yeti, demonstrating they are a threat to win the 14U National Championship next week.
Game 1
Giuseppe Calabrese had his fingerprints all over game 1. He got Yeti on the board in the bottom of the first. With one out and Michael Zummo (Smithtown East 2028) on third base who led the inning off with a walk and two stolen bases, Calabrese put one in play, gently tapping one down the third base line. It worked like a swinging bunt, there was no play to be made anywhere and Zummo crossed home to give Yeti a 1-0 lead and Calabrese never looked back.
In the top of the second Calabrese struck out the side in order. He had a total of six strikeouts on the day. Calabrese topped 80 miles per hour from the left side at a Perfect Game tournament earlier this summer and displayed a great ability to fill up the entire strike zone this morning, never getting rattled even when he fell behind in counts.
“Just pumping the fastball, the two-seam and then hit them with the curveball on 0-2,” Calabrese said when asked about what was working for him out on the mound.
It was not just Calabrese who was excellent in game one for Yeti, the defense behind him was flawless, not committing a single error and turning multiple double plays. The first one came in the top of the fourth. Anthony Baley (Commack 2028) took a breaking ball off his helmet with one out. Baley also recorded the Titan’s only hit back in the first inning with a single to center field.
With the heart of their order coming up, the Titans had an opportunity to break through the second time through the batting order. Thomas Perri (Phillip’s Academy 2029) hit a groundball on the left side. Bryce Newman fielded it cleanly, flipped it to Zummo at second who turned it perfectly, completing the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
“My team was great today,” Calabrese said. Defense put up a great outing and we got the W.”
Yeti had opportunities to extend their lead throughout this game, but could not come up with timely hits. Nicholas Tome (Sewanhaka 2028) got the start for the Titans and five runners on base through the first three innings, including three in scoring position. After a two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth, he was replaced by Alex Karousos (Locust Valley 2029). The left hander got a quick ground ball to get out of the fourth inning and was sharp from there.
In the bottom of the fifth, with runners on first and second and nobody out, Aiden Sheridan hit a soft line drive to Troy Rodriguez at short. Rodriguez caught it before doubling up the runner at second for a double play. The very next batter hit a much harder line drive back to Rodriguez at short, he once again snagged it as he was responsible for all three outs in the inning.
After Karousos struck out the side in order in the bottom of the sixth, the Titans were down to their final three outs. Tyler Trimboli wore one to start the inning off, putting the tying run on base. Once again, Calabrese and his defense bore down. Chris Mylett grounded out into a 6-4-3 double play before getting Baley to go down swinging to end the game.
Despite not getting any run support besides his own RBI in the first, Calabrese completed the shutout and got Yeti the victory. He said that when pitching in close games such as this one, there are moments where you need to be able to come up clutch for the team and he certainly did that today.
Game 2
What a play by Echel at third to end the game. The Titans add one more run in the 7th, but Yeti sweeps the doubleheader and builds a lot of momentum for the playoffs.
Yeti Select 8 – OC Titans 3 pic.twitter.com/SxDpSdmsrP— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 9, 2025
After a quick moving, low scoring affair in game one, Yeti got things going right away in the second game. With two runners on and two outs, Pat Clark stepped to the plate looking to give his team another early lead in the first inning. On the very first pitch he saw, the big left hander barrelled a pitch on the outer half of the plate to left-center field. It dropped between the outfielders, two runs came in to score and Yeti had an early 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, Yeti’s defense continued to display excellence. After two, two-out walks, Karousos had an opportunity to finally crack the scoreboard for the Titans. He took a ball the other way to shallow left field. Everyone except Aiden Sheridan thought this ball was dropping. Sheridan did not give up on the play, hustling in towards the foul line and making a sliding grab, ending the inning and saving at least one run for his team.
After Jack Lawrence (Eastport-South Manor 2029) and Sal Echel (Sachem North 2028) settled in for quiet second innings for their respective teams, the action resumed in the top of the third.
With a runner on second base and one out, Yeti’s catcher Jackson Dassau (Sachem North 2028) hit a ball hard to center field. Zummo originally held up at third, but Dassau hustled to second, understanding the situation he was able to draw a throw. Not only was he safe at second, Zummo bolted for home immediately, sliding in under the tag giving Yeti a 3-0 lead. Dassau, who also doubled in the first inning, had a really strong 2-3 performance with a walk in the second game of the doubleheader.
Later in the inning, with two runners in scoring position and two outs, Clark found himself up again in a pivotal situation. This time, he turned on a ball on the inner half of the plate, roping it down the right field line. Two more runs came in to score and Yeti now had an insurmountable 5-0 lead.
Hitting with runners on base and two outs is a situation that some young hitters shy away from. Clark embraces the challenge and said he understands that he has to change his approach to get the runners in.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play to get the runs in,” Clark said. “I was really thinking on two [outs] just hit anything close to get a single to get the run in.”
This would be all Yeti needed to get the win. They would tack on a few more runs including an RBI single by Tyler Lund in the fourth. The Titans did show some fight in the bottom of the fifth inning. Down 8-0, under the threat of a mercy, Rodriguez worked a two-out walk which was followed by an infield single by Trimboli. Mylett was then able to extend the game with a line drive to right field to score both runners making the score 8-3.
The Titans got one more run across in the bottom of the 7th via an E4, but ultimately Yeti was able to wrap the morning up just how it began, with great pitching and hitting. Sheridan recorded seven strikeouts over the final three innings for Yeti in relief. He got the final out thanks to a great play by Echel at third. Echel charged in on a soft chopper, barehanded it before firing a dart to first to end the game, winning 8-3.
The Titans will likely now miss the playoffs, finishing with an 8-11-4 record. Yeti finished the regular season with a 13-6-3 record, winning seven out of their last eight contests, securing the number two seed for the postseason which will begin on Thursday August 14th.
“We started off okay but then in the middle we started picking it up and then towards the end we started winning a lot,” Clark said. “We just tried to get a good record to get a good seed for the playoffs, I think we did do that.”
